Path of the Shinobi
by Eterna1
Summary: Naruto's been raised in a different village and is now back with unknown skills. His past is a blur, and his future is even more mysterious. Unlike others, he walks his on his own path undeterred. NaruHina SasuSaku Once again re-continued
1. Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: This is my first fanfic, so I hope it's not too bad. I don't really mind flames, so go ahead if you want.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was massive chaos as the Demon Fox, Kyuubi, attacked the village of Konohagakure. Hundreds of shinobi were trying to repel the demon, but he was too powerful.

The Chunin, Jounin, and the Anbu of Konoha were all trying to stop the fox, but over time, Kyuubi drew closer and closer to the village. The bodies of hundreds littered the ground, their blood soaking into the earth after being torn to ribbons by his claws.

The shinobi released all kinds of jutsu in order to stop the Demon Fox. They unleashed fireballs, lightning, wind, and countless kunai and shuriken. It was a hopeless attempt.

A special group of Anbu tried to bind Kyuubi to make him vunerable. Ten of them released a giant chakra dome as they tried to contain Kyuubi.

"YOU'LL NEVER STOP ME WITH A WEAK JUTSU LIKE THAT," Kyuubi roared.

Kyuubi opened its mouth and shot a huge blast of chakra. The dome shattered, causing an enormous explosion that killed hundreds of ninja.

"We're losing too many men. We have to evacuate the women and children. At this rate, Kyuubi will destroy everyone and everything," a chuunin noted.

"We need more reinforcements," another man shouted. "We can't hold back Kyuubi for much longer."

"Wait, I've heard that Jiraya-sama has arrived," a jonin said as he jumped next to them.

"PERFECT! We're all saved then!"

"There's no way ANYONE can stop that thing! It's huge!

Another huge explosion rang out across the countryside as a second chakra blast completely gouged the ground, creating an enormous crater.

Dozens of shinobi panicked at that moment. "WE HAVE TO STOP THAT THING! IT'LL ANNIHILATE KONOHA!"

In a desperate attempt, hundreds of shinobi gave their lives as they exerted all of their chakra to stop the huge burst of chakra from reaching their village. Thick walls of rock rose from the ground; shields of focused chakra were formed; and hundreds of summons appeared to save the village. However, it was barely enough. The blast was slowed, but a third of it still hit the village, blowing much of it to pieces.

"We're all dead! One more blast like that and the village will be gone," an Anbu said worriedly. "I doubt even the Sandaime and Yondaime together could stop that thing."

Suddenly a giant frog appeared over the horizon. Yondamie, the Fourth Hokage, quickly performed a few hand-signs. An enormous Shinigami materialized, tore out Kyuubi's soul, and sealed it. There was a blinding explosion of chakra as Kyuubi vanished and Yondamie's body dropped, lifeless.

Yondamie's final wish was that the boy who he had sealed Kyubi into, his youngest son, would be treated like a hero. Sadly, it was not so.

Later that night, a riot broke out as the people of Konoha tried to murder Yondamie's son, a boy named Naruto. He was nearly killed until a group of Anbu snatched up the baby and took him the recently reinstated Hokage, Sandaime.

"We can't keep him here. He's just a baby and if he stays here, he'll be dead by next week. After the Kyuubi attack, we just don't have any spare shinobi to watch over him."

"We can take him to another village." A man walked out of the darkness to Sarutobi. "If we can take the boy to another village, then he just might survive. We'll find a man to take care of Naruto, preferably a shinobi. One day, Naruto will be brought back to Konoha and he will learn the truth." Sarutobi easily recognized the man as Jiraiya, his former student.

"What kind of person would want to take the child?" Sarutobi asked. "His own village can't tolerate him, and you expect some other village will? Even if we found someone, who would do it? Iwagakure has deeply resented us ever since the last war. Sunagakure is also somewhat hateful toward us. Kirigakure is in civil war; the risk of the boy dying is even greater if he goes there. We can't just re-locate him within Fire Country either because of Danzo. He would surely find him if he were to remain in Fire Country. And knowing Danzo, he would bring Naruto back and raise him as a freaking weapon. However, Kumogakure is also quite hostile towards us. Remember the incident over the Byakugan?"

"True, but I believe that's our best option. Iwagakure is too hostible because of the war, and Suna has their own jinchuriki. If their Kazekage ever found Naruto, he'd definitely use him. I have a reliable contact inside Kumogakure that's suspects that Kumo might already have one or two jinchuriki. They won't start a war, knowing them, and I doubt they'd do it just for a third one. I think it's our only option."

Sandaime reluctantly agreed to the plan. The next morning, Naruto was quickly and quietly smuggled out of Konoha and taken to Lightning Country.

The Anbu of Konoha dashed across the rooftops of the Village Hidden in the Clouds. They were looking the man Jiraiya had mentioned as his contact within Kumogakure. They never found him.

The moment that the Anbu had entered the village the Raikage had been alerted. He sent his own Anbu to eliminate them.

There was a gruesome battle as the two groups of Anbu fought. But it was a hopeless effort. The Anbu from Konoha were not only outnumbered three to one, but they had standing orders to protect Naruto. In a final attempt to save him, one of the Anbu used a transport jutsu to send Naruto to safety. There was a flash of light as Naruto disappeared, and when the smoke cleared all three Anbu had died in pools of their own blood.

In a rush, the Anbu hadn't been able to direct his jutsu too well, so Naruto was transported to an alley next to an orphanage.

The next morning, a worker at the orphanage heard crying outside. She opened the door and found a baby crying on the floor.

"Oh my god," she thought. "What's a baby doing in a dark alley?"

She took the child into the orphanage where he would be raised with all the others.

(Four years later)

"Hey! Give me back my sandwich you faggot!" Naruto shouted.

It had been four years since Naruto was found in the alley. In that time, Naruto lived a life of poverty. The children at the orphanage stole food when they couldn't find any in the trash. Everyone was cold, uncaring, and determined to survive. It wasn't wise to make friends since there was a chance that your friend would dead the next day.

The Village Hidden in the Clouds was going through difficult times. Many people were poverty-stricken due to the fact that the Raikage used most of the funding to build a larger military and towards research of the Byakugan.

At the orphanage, it was every man for himself. The kids fought over food, beds, and anything that was found, on a daily basis.

Today, Naruto had been lucky enough to spot a sandwich in a trashcan, but as he reached for it, it was snatched away. It was Naruto's constant rival, Kisaki Hinashi. Kisaki considered himself better than all the other kids at the orphanage because his father had been a shinobi. And before he had died, he had taught Kisaki a few basic jutsus. Kisaki used these on a daily basis to impress everyone. Naruto was the only one who thought it was pathetic.

"You don't even have any control over those techniques," Naruto accused. "Over half the time to try the Clone Jutsu, you end exploding the chakra in your face."

"It doesn't matter. I can focus my chakra, and can't at all. Plus, you're a midget, and I'm not," Kisaki shot back.

The truth was, ever since Naruto had met Kisaki, they fought over everything. Naruto had always been somewhat of a reject. He had never known his parents, he was short, and he was probably the weakest since everyone stole food from him. At the orphanage, Kisaki was always the best at everything. He was the tallest, the strongest, and often used to chakra to mess with the other children.

"Kisaki, you bastard, just because you can't shoot around some chakra, you think you're so much better than all of us. But I bet I can kick your ass any day."

"No thanks. I have more important things to do than beat up a whining midget." Kisaki turned away.

Just then, Naruto dashed up behind Kisaki and sweep kicked him.

"You're not the only one who can fight," Naruto snapped as Kisaki got up.

Since Naruto had always been the smallest child at the orphanage, he had to learn how to fight back. When he was three, Naruto got into a fight with Kisaki. He was beaten to a pulp. On his way out the door, an old man found him and was shocked to see all of Naruto's bruises. When he found out what had happened, he decided to teach Naruto some basic fighting techniques.

"You asked for it," Kisaki yelled angrily.

Kisaki rushed Naruto and tried to him with punch, but he just sidestepped and tripped Kisaki. Kisaki sweep kicked Naruto and tried to smash him face. He brought his leg down as Naruto rolled away. They both got up and charged at each other. Both punches hit each other square in the face at the same time, knocking them both back. Kisaki was thrown against the wall, while Naruto flew out the door and hit an old man.

"Are you ok?" the man asked.

"I hate that jackass Kisaki!"

"I never knew the orphanage was so dangerous."

"You have no idea," Naruto replied before rushing back towards Kisaki.

"Hold on kid," the old man demanded as he grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar.

"There's this jerk that-," Naruto began.

"Why do you fight?" the old man suddenly asked.

"What?"

"What is the point of fighting that boy, Kisaki?" he repeated.

"He took my food!" Naruto accused.

"So is it for survival?"

"HELL YES IT IS! Here at the orphanage, it's every man for himself! Everything we do is so we can live a little longer!"

"Then if I give you some food, will you please stay away from that kid? At this rate, you're going end up a bloody mess."

"Wow, thanks mister. What's your name?" Naruto asked politely.

"Abrame Sachiki. And what would your's be?"

"To tell the truth, I don't know," Naruto answered sheepishly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents, and my first memory was one of me walking in this very orphanage," Naruto answered pointing to the building. "A worker here told me that she found me in an alley, deserted and alone. I have no idea what my name is."

"Well then, someone like you needs a guardian. You can't keep living in terror like this!"

"Yeah, like anyone would take in a runt like me," Naruto said mockingly. "Someone would have to be a moron to do something like that."

"Well, I think I just might be that moron," Abrame said with a smile.

I made this a bit longer, and covered lots of plot holes. I still think it's missing a few things, so I might add more later.


	2. Return to Konoha

Path of the Shinobi

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: I'm not very good with Japanese stuff, so if I spell something wrong, feel free to correct me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2: Return to Konoha

Naruto thought of Abrame as the father he never knew, and Abrame saw Naruto as the son he never had. While Abrame was an Anbu, he was nearing retirement. With all his free time, he taught Naruto the ways of the ninja.

Almost on a daily basis, they would go to the training grounds to practice taijutsu and chakra control. For an entire year, Naruto sparred with Abrame, practiced controlling his chakra by climbing trees and walking on water, and threw kunai and shuriken at targets. On stormy days, Naruto would practice hand signs, learn different ninjutsu, and train his body.

Abrame was always carefree and kind around Naruto. However, there was one incident that Naruto had always thought of as odd. During a training session one day, Naruto took off his shirt from the heat. Abrame was next to him in an instant.

"This seal…where did you get it?" Abrame suddenly asked with urgency.

"I dunno. I've had it for as long as I can remember. I think it's some kind of scar or something. Why? Is something wrong?" Naruto asked.

"No…no…its fine." But Abrame looked somewhat disturbed and never brought it up the again.

Over the years, both of them developed a bond that rivaled the relationships between actual father and son. Every once and a while, Abrame would be sent on a mission. Naruto would always worry since Abrame wasn't as young as he used to be. But whenever, he saw the look on Naruto's face, he would smile and say, "Don't worry, I'll come back. And I do, we can go get some Ramen."

Those words lightened Naruto's heart, but there was a shred of doubt. But Abrame always did come back, and Naruto grew to love Ramen since it reminded him of Abrame's return.

One day, when Naruto turned eight. Abrame showed him something truly amazing.

"Come over here. I want show you the Sachiki family heirloom," Abrame said as he brought out a sheathed sword. "This is the SeikaKage (Sacred Fire Shadow). It has been in my family for generations. I want you to have it."

Naruto was completely overcome with emotion. He couldn't believe that Abrame considered family enough to give him such a gift. He took in his hands, pulled it out of its sheathed and admired it. The sword was shining black and almost as tall as he was. It eminated a powerful aura and Naruto could feel the power radiating from it.

"You've advanced very far in your studies and training, so from today, I'm going to teach how to fight with a sword and how to use SeikaKage," explained Abrame.

Naruto's eyes began to well up with tears of happiness. "T-thank you," he managed to stutter as he hugged Abrame. He never thought he could feel so much joy and happiness at once.

(Two years later)

It had already been a year since Naruto had first used SeikaKage. He could still remember the joy and surprise he felt.

Flashback

"_One more time Naruto. I know you can do it," said Abrame. _

_Naruto picked up the sword and let his chakra flow into the blade. As it gathered, the sword began glow white and set ablaze. _

_Abrame quickly performed some hand seals. "__**Earth Style: Spike Shower Jutsu**__," he shouted as hundreds of spikes shot at Naruto. "Now! Release the chakra!"_

Naruto swung the sword, firing off a giant wave of fire. All the spikes were suddenly incinerated and Naruto was left with a shocked expression on his face.

That had been a while ago. Since then, he had learned much more than just firing off waves of fire. Today, Abrame was sent on an S-ranked mission to capture rogue shinobi. Naruto had long outgrown worrying, so they said goodbye and Abrame left. He never came back alive.

It was an ambush. Abrame had tracked down rogue shinobi to the inn he was staying in. But as soon as he had walked into the room, the entire floor exploded and hundreds of kunai rained down from the ceiling.

When the body was brought back to the village, it was mangled beyond recognition. His face and torso had blown to pieces and his limbs were ridden with kunai.

As soon as Naruto saw the body, he was devastated. Seeing the mangled body of someone he thought of as his father threw him into a state of anguish and depression. Over time, however, his sadness turned to grief, his grief turned to anger, and his anger turned into cold uncaring.

A few days later, Sarutobi learned of the death of Naruto's guardian. He arranged to have Naruto brought back to Konoha.

It was three in the morning when Naruto heard it. I was the slow, slicing sound of a kunai being drawn from its pouch. He jumped from his bed, only to suddenly fall into unconsciousness.

When Naruto awoke, he found himself in a circular room. There was a desk stacked with papers. Then he noticed an elderly man sitting in a chair staring at him curiously.

"Who are you old man? Where the hell am I? Why did you kidnap me?" Naruto demanded immediately.

"I am the Hokage of this town, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, your home. This is where you were born with you family."

"My home is in the Lightning Country, with Abrame Sachiki. He was the closest thing to a family I ever had," Naruto spat angrily. "Wait, it was you guys wasn't it? You killed him! You sick bastards!" Naruto screamed. He began to draw his sword, when Sarutobi put out his hand.

"I understand you grief, but this conduct is unbecoming of you. I urge you to calm down," Sandaime said gently. "First of all, let me ask you a question: Who are you?"

Naruto looked at him quizzically. "Isn't that my line?"

"Do you know who you are? What your name is? Who your real family was? Or even, what that seal is doing on your stomach?"

"How do you know about that!?" Naruto said, shocked.

"Let me start at the beginning…"

For hours, Sandaime answered Naruto's questions about his identity, his background, and of course, the Kyuubi. This led to how Naruto came to live in Kumogakure.

"When the Anbu didn't return, we expected the worse. We sent another group of Anbu to see if you were alive. To our surprise, you were living happily with an elderly shinobi, so we decided to leave you there. But once the old man died, we knew it was time that you learned the truth."

"You sent me to another village for nine years just to save me from a bunch of mobbing peasants?"

"Ha ha ha, you'd be surprised how violent mobbing peasants can be! We had no choice. You were only an infant and we had to save you."

"Well, now that I'm here, what do you plan to do with me?"

"Tomorrow morning, you will be sent to the Ninja Academy, with all the other ninja of your age. There, you will learn the techniques and knowledge needed to become a shinobi," Sarutobi explained. "Once you graduate, you will become a genin, later a chunin, and eventually maybe even a jounin."

"I've made arrangements for an apartment for you to live in. Naturally, we will cover the expenses. Also, until you become a chuunin with a steady income from missions, we will also grant you a monthly allowance. Any other questions?"

"How will you explain where I came from?" Naruto asked.

"There is no use hiding it. The moment the villagers lay eyes on you, you will be recognized as Naruto Uzumaki, the container of the Kyuubi. However, do not let it deter you, you will find true friends that will except you for who you are."

"Alright, but I have one more question," Naruto said as he headed for the door.

"Well, at this rate I'll be even older by the time we finish this, Sandaime laughed. "But I suppose you deserve nothing less than answers. Ask away my boy."

"What's my name?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto…? It's weird but it has a ring to it…" And with that, Naruto headed out.

"So, he's come back…" a whisper came from the other door.

"Jiraiya, stop with the mystery act, you're not fooling anyone," Sandaime said dully.

"Awww come on! The ladies love mysterious guys!" Jiraiya laughed.

Ignoring his remark, "Jiraiya, I want you to keep an eye on Naruto. I don't expect him to get into any serious trouble, but just check up on him every once in a while."

"Sure thing sensei. But before I go, I want to give you this. Minato handed it to me just before he left to stop the Kyuubi."

"THIS! This is…it can't be! How did he…"

"Shhh, don't say anything. Keep this a secret. Minato intended for Naruto to receive this later. He said to give it to him when you 'felt he would be ready'. Now I have some urgent matters to attend to, but I'll keep an eye on Naruto for you." With that Jiraiya vanished in a poof of smoke.

"May Kami save that boy from too much trouble," thought Sarutobi as he watched Jiraiya leave.

I covered a few holes over here, but I still think this chapter is way too short. Read and Review!


	3. The Road to Genin

Path of the Shinobi

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: I really need more reviews. Thanks to KyuubiWindscar and Hotshot45 for reviewing, but if I'm going to continue this story, I'll need more feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 3: The Road to Genin

Naruto awoke the next morning and reluctantly opened his eyes. He slowly got out of bed, got dressed, and grabbed a cup of Ramen. Once he finished, he strapped on his kunai holster and SeikaKage, and took a quick look in the mirror. His blonde hair had grown out past his ears. His bangs framed his face as unruly spikes topped off his head. He took one last look and headed out the door early for his first day at the Ninja Academy.

As he walked down the streets, Naruto wondered what the Ninja Academy would be like. The only training he had ever done was with Abrame, and that was one-on-one. While he walked he noticed that he was getting a lot of glares from everyone.

"I guess the old man was right, they do recognize me," he thought. "I bet it's the whiskers."

He decided to stop by a clothing shop so he could get out of the torn rags he was wearing after his battle with Mizuki. The first shopkeeper he went took one look at him and waved him away. "We don't serve your kind here," the man glared.

"Damn, the old man wasn't kidding when he said they didn't like me. Well, there's got to be plenty of other clothing stores in a village this big." Naruto thought optimistically.

But his hope soon dwindled as he was rejected by shop after shop. "Now this is just ridiculous, there has to be someone that runs a shop in this village that doesn't hate me!" Naruto shouted out as he walked through a rather poor part of Konoha.

Suddenly, two girls dashed past him. One was blond and the other had pink hair. They seemed to be racing, but Naruto couldn't determine what they were saying through all the shouting. They blew past him, spinning him around and around. However, the girls soon disappeared as suddenly as they had come.

"What the hell?" Naruto scratched his head as he finally stopped spinning. Then he noticed something. "Alright! I never thought to look here!" He had found another clothing store, probably the only one he hadn't checked in all of Konoha.

He walked into the store, only to fine the shopkeeper shiver and tremble like many of the others before him. "Wh-What do y-you want he-here?" the man stuttered.

"I'm just here to buy some clothes. What do you got?"

"Well, t-to tell the tr-truth…" the shopkeeper began nervously.

"Oh, I get it," Naruto said angrily. "You don't want to serve the _demon boy_."

"I-It's not that…"

"Oh, so you don't want my _money_," Naruto said with a smirk.

The man's eyes instantly lit up. "Money did you say?"

"That's right. I'm here to _buy _something, and if you want my money, you better sell me whatever I want," Naruto accented by waving a few bills.

The shopkeeper seemed to harbor an intense internal struggle as he began to fidget from the choice.

"Well, business has been rather slow lately, and my wife is always complaining…" the man pondered as he twiddled his fingers. "Very well, I'll do it. But…whatever you buy here, you didn't get it from me."

Naruto nodded in agreement as the shopkeeper showed him around the shop, giving him plenty of suggestions. Naruto thanked the man and began to look around on his own. In the end, he decided to pick out the faded black pants and blue sandals that all the shinobi in his village seemed to wear. Then after much thought, Naruto decided to go with a dark blue undershirt. On the outside, he chose a black short-sleeved shirt with a red spiral design on the back and his right sleeve. The sleeves ran to his elbows loosely, while he slipped on two thin, black, fingerless gloves that covered his forearms.

Strapping SeikaKage onto his back and two long metal forearm protectors on, he looked at himself in the mirror. Satisfied with his appearance, he paid and thanked the shopkeeper, which seemed to shock the man, considering Naruto's earlier display of bribery. He realized it was about time to get to school, so he quickly turned around and headed for the shinobi sector of the village.

He kept walking, made another turn, and abruptly ran into a lavender-haired girl. When they both opened their eyes, the girl blushed furiously once she realized that he was on top of her. "He's kind of cute," she thought.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized as he helped her up. "I guess I wasn't looking at where I was going." But the girl just stood and blushed even harder.

"Okkkk, well, my name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm on my way to the Ninja Academy, but I sort of got lost. Do you know which way it is?"

"H-hi, I-I'm H-hinata Hyuga. I'm o-on m-my way t-to the a-academy t-too."

Just then a tall figure in white robes came up behind Hinata.

"Hinata," he spoke, "don't talk to strangers. You need to get to the academy _now_."

"Well, I'll see you at the academy Hinata," Naruto said as he waved goodbye.

Naruto continued to walk around until he finally found the academy. He went inside and found the door. Naruto opened the door and was about to walk inside, when suddenly two girls dashed in first. He realized it was the two girls from before.

"Yeah! I beat you Ino!" the pink-haired girl shouted.

"No way, Sakura, I definitely got through that door first!" yelled the blond one. "Sasuke is mine!" she shouted as she pointed to an emo looking boy with raven hair.

"Oh great," Naruto realized. "They're fangirls."

"Hn," Sasuke smirked. "Took you long enough, you dobe."

"Who do you think you are to call me a dobe?" Naruto asked.

"Hn."

"That ignorant bastard," he thought.

Naruto looked around and saw Hinata. He walked over and picked a seat between her and a guy with a dog on his head.

"Hey Hinata."

"H-hello N-naruto."

At that moment, the teacher walked. "Alright everyone, no more talking. You will all call me Iruka-sensei, got that?"

"Yes Iruka-sensei," the class chanted.

Iruka began to call the names of everyone is the class.

"Chouji Akimichi," he called as a fat kid eating chips raised his hand.

"Shikamaru Nara," as a bored looking boy lazily raised his hands.

"Kiba Inuzuka." The boy with the dog on his head next to him raised his hand.

"Shino Aburame." A boy with a sunglasses and a big neckband coldly raised his hand.

Iruka continued to see if everyone was present until he covered everyone in the class.

"Ok, today we will be covering the Transformation Jutsu, but first, we have a new student today," Iruka announced. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki.

"Wait," Kiba shouted. "Do you mean tell me that he's the demon brat my father told-."

"Moving on," Iruka said quickly. "Naruto, why don't you come up here and try the Transformation Jutsu. Why don't you try transforming into our Hokage?"

Unfortunately, Abrame had never taught Naruto such a jutsu. Abrame had only focused his efforts on jutsu that he thought would help Naruto on the battlefield. He performed the hand seal, focused his chakra, and hoped for the best.

The transformation was going fine until Naruto accidentally tapped into Kyuubi's chakra. His entire body emitted red chakra as is started to intensify. The result was an enormous explosion that completely blew apart the classroom.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw that he had blown open the roof and two of the walls. The inside of the classroom was covered in debris and dust. Everyone had taken cover so they were all ok but the classroom had been destroyed. A few of the other kids started to come out of the dust.

"I knew it!" Kiba shouted. "He is the demon kid that my father told me about. He's got the Kyuubi sealed in him. He's the Nine-Tailed Fox!"

The other children began to look at him nervously as they started to back away. They edged towards the destroyed door and most of them abruptly turned and ran.

Only Hinata, Shino, Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino stayed. Hinata looked worried while Sasuke acted like nothing had happened. As for Sakura and Ino, they stayed only because Sasuke did. Shino was curiously studying the Naruto; even he couldn't help but look interested behind those glasses.

"I knew this would happen someday," Iruka sighed. "Hey Naruto, why don't' we get some Ramen. We need to talk."

Both of them headed towards the Ramen Stand. They both ordered and Iruka turned towards Naruto. "

"Naruto, what happened in the classroom was dangerous," Iruka said sadly. "If you can't control the Kyuubi's charka, you could seriously injure someone."

"I know," Naruto replied. "I don't know what happened. I was focusing my chakra and then suddenly, I felt something really powerful come over me. I just lost control."

"That's exactly the problem. You don't know how to control the Fox's power. We need to find someone that can help you control it."

After Naruto had finished his ramen, he was about to pay when Iruka stopped him. "The ramen was my treat," he explained.

"ALRIGHT! Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said happily.

"No problem," he said with a smile. "Just try not to get into anymore trouble."

He was walking home when Hinata suddenly walked up to him.

"Are you ok Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"I'm fine Hinata," he turned to walked away.

"Wait! Naruto-kun, I know what you're going through, and it's nothing to ashamed of."

Naruto whirled around. "It doesn't matter," he said bitterly.

"Naruto-kun, you aren't the Kyuubi, you're its container. If anything we should be thanking you for stopping that monster from killing us all."

Naruto looked up and Hinata saw that he had a warm smile on his face. "Thanks Hinata." He gave Hinata a reassuring look as turned to leave and gave her a wave to say goodbye.

(Two years later)

For two years Naruto mastered the different types of jutsu that Iruka-sensei taught them. Besides the Transformation Jutsu, there was the Clone Jutsu, the Substitution Jutsu, many others. He also learned basic shinobi strategy, rudimentary medical treatment, weapons use and care, and even some new taijutsu techniques. These were all things Abrame had never taught him, probably out of his rush to give Naruto protection.

Even though at first, the others had been reluctant to accept him, the other students at the academy learned to like Naruto. Yes, they thought he was somewhat of an idiot, but he was a likeable idiot. The whole matter involving the Kyuubi was tossed aside as Naruto made friends with everyone.

Today was the Graduation Exam. Everyone was tested on different types of techniques until it was finally Naruto's turn.

Naruto did fine on his exam. His perform every technique perfectly except the Clone Jutsu, in which he had only managed to make two good clones; the third had been shorter the rest. Mizuki didn't think it was good enough, but Iruka thought other wise.

"Good job Naruto," Iruka congratulated. "Even though your Clone Jutsu could use some work, but we'll pass you anyway. Here's your headband."

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Tomorrow, we'll announce the teams and you'll also meet your teacher."

However, later that night, as Naruto was walking home, he saw Mizuki dashing into the forest with a giant scroll. Naruto instantly thought it was sort of suspicious, so he decided to follow Mizuki.

Shortly after Naruto headed into the forest after Mizuki, he saw a few Chunin near by. "Mizuki's stolen the Scroll of Forbidden Seals. We are in pursuit and moving to intercept," Naruto overheard them say.

"So he's stolen the scroll," Naruto thought. "I'll have to stop him."

Mizuki soon stopped at a clearing and was prepared to open the scroll when he saw the Chunin arrive. Quickly, Mizuki disappeared in a puff of smoke. When he reappeared, he slit the throat of one of them and showered the other two with kunai and shuriken. Then, he threw a giant windmill shuriken, which promptly sliced through the last two Chunin. The shuriken spiraled in an arc and returned to Mizuki's waiting hand.

Meanwhile, Naruto jumped into the clearing. "Return the scroll," Naruto said determinedly.

"And what are you going to do to make me," Mizuki retorted.

Naruto rapidly perform a series of complex hand signs that Abrame had taught him. "**Demonic Arts: Shadow Fire Torrent Jutsu**," Naruto shouted. An enormous vortex of black fire erupted from the ground and began to make its way toward Mizuki.

"Where did he learn such a devastating technique," Mizuki wondered as he quickly dashed around to avoid get hit.

Unfortunately, the jutsu consumed too much chakra, and Naruto was forced to end it.

Taking advantage of the pause, Mizuki charged forward and threw one of the windmill shuriken. Naruto dodged it, pulled out SeikaKage, and focused some of his remaining chakra into it. The sword glowed white and burst into flame as he easily sliced straight through the shuriken once it had turned around.

"It's time to end this," Naruto yelled. "**Fire Sword Release: Blazing Dragon**!" He stabbed his sword into the ground, which caused fire to spread across the ground in eight directions. The flames then spiraled into the air and combined, forming a giant dragon. It shot towards Mizuki and when the flames cleared, he was covered in third-degree burns and unconscious.

Moments later, a squad of Anbu arrived and were amazed to see that Naruto had defeated Mizuki. But they were also shocked to see Mizuki burned so badly. Naruto was immediately brought to Hokage tower before Sarutobi.

"Naruto, we are all curious about what kind of jutsu Abrame taught you," Sandaime said curiously. "After the Chunin pursuing Mizuki didn't return, we about to send the Anbu when a massive black vortex appeared and burned half the forest."

"And then, following the Anbu's departure, we saw a flaming dragon rise into the air, and crash back down, sending a fire shockwave throughout the village," he continued. "Such techniques are Anbu level, if not higher. What kind of training did Abrame put you through?"

"We trained on almost a daily basis whenever Abrame didn't have a mission," Naruto answered. "Abrame was an Anbu, so when I was eight or nine, he taught me some pretty powerful techniques. Some of my strongest jutsus also come from my sword, SeikaKage."

"Interesting," replied Sarutobi. "Well, we must ask you not to use those techniques too often. They too are dangerous and you could end up killing innocent people. Now go home and get a good night's sleep. You'll me be meeting your team members tomorrow."

And with that, Naruto left for home, praying that his team members wouldn't be a bunch of morons.

That's all for now! Please Read and Review!


	4. Kakashi's Exam

Path of the Shinobi

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It's nice to get feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 4: Kakashi's Exam

Naruto awoke the next morning to find to find that the sun was already high up in the sky. He quickly turned to check his clock and found that he had forgotten to set the alarm.

"Oh crap, I was supposed to be at the academy three hours ago!"

He quickly got dressed, didn't even bother with breakfast, and ran out the door. In his panic, he had completely forgotten about shunshin.

Dashing across the streets, he soon discovered there were too many people. So he quickly jumped onto the roof, and ran along the rooftops.

After about ten minutes, he finally burst through the door of the classroom.

"Well, it's about time you got here Naruto," Iruka with disappointment. "Three hours late?! That's a new record even for you Naruto."

"I forgot to set my alarm clock and got here as fast as I could," Naruto answered.

"Because of your tardiness, your team has had to wait for you for three hours. Luckily, your sensei is Kakashi, so you're actually just in time," Iruka said as he laughed. "Since you were late, we had to move you to Kakashi's team because he's always so late. Your original team members were Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. Now your team is Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.

"You can't mean the emo bastard and crazy fan girl?" Naruto pleaded. " Please, put me back on Hinata's team."

"We should be the ones asking for a new team member you dobe," Sasuke replied as he walked through the door.

"No complaints Naruto," Iruka said sternly. "Now, you'll go and meet Kakashi, your team leader."

He ran over to the classroom where he was supposed to be meeting his team. However, he discovered to his shocked that Kakashi was already there.

"Amazing, this is the first time someone has actually been later than me. Well, lets get started. I want each of you to tell me your likes, dislikes, and dreams. Your up first," as he pointed to Sakura.

"Well my likes are," she looked as Sasuke and giggled. "My dislikes," as she glared at Naruto. "My dream is," and she looked at Sasuke and blushed.

"Damn fan girls," thought Kakashi. "Well it's your turn," and he pointed at Sasuke.

"I probably have too many dislikes to count, and I don't like anything enough to remember them. But as for my dream, it's to kill a certain someone."

"Alright, it's your turn Naruto."

"My likes are ramen. My dislikes, fan girls and ignorant bastards," as he glared at Sasuke and Sakura. But my dream is, to someday, gain respect in this village. Someday, the people of this village won't look at me with contempt and hatred anymore. Instead, they'll look at me with admiration and honor. One day, I will become Hokage."

"That's quite a dream," thought Kakashi.

"I'll meet you all on training ground 7 tomorrow at 6 AM. And don't bother eating breakfast," he shouted. "You'll all end up puking anyway."

When all three of them arrived on the training grounds the next day, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"Crap," Naruto yelled. "I should've known he'd be late again."

After waiting three hours, Kakashi finally appeared in front of them.

"Today you will be given a test that will determine whether you become a Genin," he explained. "I have with me two bells. By noon, each of you must take a bell in order to pass."

"But there's only two bells, and three of us. Does that mean one of us won't pass?" asked Naruto.

"Exactly. Two of you will become Genin and the other one will be sent back to the academy. But I must warn you. Unless you come at me with the intent to kill, you will never get the bells. The test will begin…NOW!"

The Sakura and Sasuke dashed away, but Naruto just stood in the same spot. "It's just you and me now Kakashi-sensei."

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed as he pulled out a book. "Shinobi Tactic 1: Taijutsu."

Naruto vanished and suddenly appeared behind Kakashi. He aimed a kick at Kakashi's head, but it was easily dodged. Then Naruto tried to stab him with a kunai as he spun around, but Kakashi's wrist guard deflected it.

Finally, Kakashi decided to counterattack. He quickly got out a kunai stabbed Naruto. The blade embedded itself into Naruto's chest, but as soon as it did, Naruto exploded. The explosion blasted Kakashi off his feet and created an enormous crater.

"It looks like I underestimated him," Kakashi said with surprise in his voice as his book burned to a crisp.

A few feet away, hidden in the bushes, Naruto watched as his Inferno Clone exploded. "Damn," he thought. "I won't be able to beat him alone. I have to find the others." And with that, he dashed into the forest.

A good distance away, Sakura was busy looking for Sasuke. "Were could he be?" she wondered. She soon found herself in a clearing and suddenly, leaves began to swirl around her. Quickly, she jumped away.

"Sakura," a strained voice whispered. "Please help me…"

She whirled around and found Sasuke bleeding heavily. His limbs and chest were littered with kunai and shuriken. "Help me," he insisted.

Shocked at the sight of the dying Sasuke, Sakura immediately fainted.

When she awoke, she found Naruto beside her. "What happened, where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked quickly.

"Of course," Naruto replied. "Genjutsu. I can't believe he got you with that. We have to find Sasuke. None of us can beat him alone."

"Sasuke can't lose," she argued angrily. "He's too good to lose."

"It doesn't matter, we have to find him anyway." Then they rushed to find Sasuke.

After Kakashi had caused Sakura to faint, he kept reading until Sasuke unexpectedly landed in the clearing.

"Well, it looks like I have another person to deal with," Kakashi said with amusement.

"I'm not like the others," Sasuke said coldly. "You might've beaten the others, but I intend to get one of those bells.

He quickly threw four shuriken, but Kakashi easily dodged them. Sasuke abruptly appeared behind him and gave a powerful upward kick. Kakashi caught it, so Sasuke rapidly performed some hand seals. "**Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu**," he yelled as a giant ball of flame shot towards Kakashi at point blank.

When the flames cleared, Kakashi was gone. "Where could he have gone?" Sasuke wondered as he hurriedly looked around.

"I'm right here." Sasuke heard the voice and spun around to find Kakashi speedily executing hand signs. "**Earth Release: Stone Prison Jutsu**," he shouted as chakra surrounded Sasuke. The chakra then became numerous massive rocks that sealed into a rectangle, and Sasuke was trapped inside.

"You won't be able to escape from that. Those walls are stronger than steel," Kakashi explained.

"Then I'll just have to blast them down by force," Naruto said as he and Sakura landed next to the stone prison. He slowly drew SeikaKage. "Let's end this here and now."

Chakra began to flood in the sword as the blade became aflame with black fire. "**Demonic Blade: Shadow Release**!" Naruto yelled. SeikaKage began to transform as it started to grow in size. The flames spread past the blade and onto the hilt. Fire began to lick across Naruto's hand; however, it did not seem to injure him.

As soon the transformation was complete, Naruto swung the sword at the stone prison. The rock wall exploded as the blade made contact. All three of them taking advantage of the dust, they rushed Kakashi. However, Naruto decided to send in another Inferno Clone instead.

When they reached him, Sasuke immediately saw that the Naruto was a clone. Sakura threw a shower of kunai and shuriken at Kakashi, which he effortlessly dodged, only to be met by Sasuke, who shot another fireball.

Barely escaping and slightly burned, he was intercepted by Naruto's clone as he landed on the ground. The clone swung its sword, and when Kakashi dodged it, flames shot out. Kakashi was hit at least twice until he steadied himself and showered the clone with kunai. Instantly, the clone exploded, and when the smoke cleared, Kakashi found Sasuke pointing a kunai at his back, Sakura with a kunai at his chest, and around his neck was Naruto's blazing sword.

"You've all done very well," Kakashi announced. "Therefore, you all pass."

"But I thought we had to get the bells?" Sakura asked with confusion.

"The test was to see whether you could all work as a team, and I have to say that you all did much better than I expected. Team 7 is now an official Genin squad. You will all start missions tomorrow at seven in the morning," he said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Yeah sure, more like at ten," Naruto shook his head.

As they all headed home, Naruto decided to stop for some ramen. He was surprised to find Hinata there. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to her as old man Ichiraku stopped by.

"Hey Hinata! Have you ordered yet?"

"No," she replied while she shook her head. "I just got here. Want you eat with me?"

"Sure! My treat!"

They both ordered and started talking about the test they took.

"Did you pass too?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, but Kakashi's really one hell of a shinobi. We barely won."

"Well, I just glad that you passed."

They continued to talk about what being a Genin would be like and wondering how difficult missions would be. Soon it was dark and Naruto decided to walk Hinata home.

As they walked they talked about their teammates. Hinata said Kiba and Shino were pretty nice. But Kiba was a bit overconfident sometimes and Shino was really secluded. Naruto said that Sasuke was probably a bit like Kiba and that Sakura was just an obsessed fan girl. Hinata laughed at her antics.

Before long, they found themselves in front of the Hyuuga compound.

"I had a great time with you Naruto-kun," Hinata said timidly.

"Yeah me too," he replied. "We should do it again sometime." He began to walk away, but stopped and turned around.

"Thanks Hinata, for accepting me for who I am for all these years. Everyone shunned me or showed dislike towards me, but you were one of the few people in this village who showed me kindness," he said smiling.

"Naruto-kun…"

"I'll see you tomorrow." He waved and started to walk away once more.

All of a sudden, he felt Hinata wrap her arms around him. He turned and hugged her back.

"Good night Naruto," she whispered.

"Good night Hinata."

Naruto waited until Hinata went inside before he turned and left for home. Tomorrow would be his first day as a shinobi.

(Two months later)

Ever since Team 7 had officially become shinobi, they had done nothing but D-ranked missions. They did useless things such as washing windows, sweeping leaves, chasing after cats, and so many other tasks that almost any person could do.

"I want a real mission," Naruto demanded one day. "I'm tired of doing all this useless junk. We've done like a hundred of these worthless D-ranked missions. Half of those were just capturing the Firelord's cat damn it! Give us a C-ranked mission or something."

"I hate to say it," added Sasuke. "But the dobe is right. We're getting bored of these missions."

Kakashi sighed. This was probably the tenth time that they had made such a request. He doubted that the Third would ever relent, but his answer surprised him.

"Very well then," agreed Sarutobi. "We will give you a C-ranked mission. It will be your duty to escort this man, Sakoro Hatori. He is a merchant for the village of Kirigakure. You will ensure that he survives the trip."

"Well, it's not much," sighed Naruto. "But it's a start."

That's it for now! I might not be able to update while I'm gone, so I give you guys this chapter before I leave. Read and Review! I hope to see lots of new reviews when I get back.

P.S. I know the test turned out a bit differently, but I wanted to mix it up a little bit. I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Departure: A Sudden Attack

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: Well, it's Naruto's first real mission. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 5: Departure: A Sudden Attack

After Sarutobi had briefed them on their mission, Sakoro and Team 7 left to pack. Naruto packed as fast as he could since he wanted to get a bowl of ramen before he left. He grabbed a pile of clothes, some food, and a pillow and blankets before stuffing all of it into his backpack.

He checked the clock and found that he still had two hours left.

"Well," Naruto said with satisfaction, "That takes care of that. Now for some ramen!"

Naruto ran for the ramen shop, ducked inside, and almost ran into Hinata. Their bodies were so close that Naruto could actually hear Hinata's heart speed up as her blushing face filled his vision.

He quickly backed away. There was an awkward moment of silence as both of them avoid each other's gazes.

"Umm…so Hinata…have you eaten yet?"

"N-no Naruto-kun. I just got here."

"Would you like to get some with me then?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied with a smile

They both ordered and while they waited, Naruto mentioned his mission.

"…so I have to escort this Sakoro guy to the Mist Village. For some reason though, every time we talk about the mission, he gets really nervous. It's like there's something he's trying to hide," explained Naruto.

Their ramen came and they started to eat. Naruto was on his fifth bowl when he glanced at the clock. He was shocked to see the time.

"I was supposed to meet my teammates at the Konoha gate over an hour ago," he screamed. "I'll see you when I get back Hinata." He put down some money and ran off.

"Be careful Naruto-kun," she shouted back as Naruto dashed away. "I hope he doesn't get hurt." Hinata turned to pay and was pulling some money out of her jacket when she was stopped.

"There's no need to pay. That boy left enough money to pay for both of you," the man explained.

Hinata's mind once again turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun…"

* * *

"Oh crap. They're going kill me," Naruto thought as he grabbed his backpack and ran towards the gates. But when he got there, he discovered that Sakoro, Sakura, and Sasuke were still waiting for Kakashi. 

"I should've known," Naruto sighed. "I can't believe I left Hinata just to wait for Kakashi."

After an hour of waiting, Kakashi still didn't show up. Sasuke had taken to throwing kunai and shuriken at trees, while Sakura watched him; she was amazed that he was able to hit every shuriken dead center with a kunai in midair. Sakoro had gotten bored and had decided to take a nap. As for Naruto, he had already gotten hungry and eaten all the food he had brought with him.

Once everyone had waited a total of three hours, Kakashi finally arrived in a cloud of smoke.

"Sorry I took so long. I had to speak to the Hokage about an important matter."

"Wow Kakashi-sensei, that's actually an acceptable excuse," said Sakura, half-amused, half-surprised. "I'm shocked you didn't say something like, 'I had to help an old lady' or 'I got caught up on the road of life,' she laughed.

"Now that I'm here, let's get going." Everyone was glad to finally start the mission, so they all grabbed their bags and headed for the Village Hidden in the Mist.

* * *

For three days, they followed the same routine. They woke up in the morning, put out the fire, packed, and headed for the village. At noon, they would stop, have lunch, and keep going. Once it was dark, they set up camp, have dinner, and went to their tents. 

On the fourth day; however, they were walking when suddenly, Sasuke heard a noise in the bushes. All four of the ninja showered the bush with kunai. When the noise stopped, they all went to check what was there.

Naruto pulled open the top bush, and two cloaked ninja jumped out and tried to kill him with their claws. He dodged their attack, but one of them circled around and came for another attack. The other one sped towards Kakashi. The enemy ninja rushed through a few hand signs and screamed, "**Kanashibari no Jutsu **(Body Freeze Jutsu)!" The effect was instantaneous. Kakashi's limbs froze and he fell to the ground, useless. "I'll deal with you after we've taken care of those brats," he snarled.

Sakura rushed to protect Sakoro, but the attackers didn't seem in a hurry to kill him just yet.

And now with Kakashi out of the way, the second attacker charged at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped to dodge the attack, and then he spun, kicking the attacker across the head. He landed and threw some kunai at the assailant. The knives embedded themselves into the shinobi's chest. With the enemy incapacitated, Sasuke took a deep breath and roared," **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu**!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)

The enemy ninja tried to dodge the fireball, but he was too slow. He was hit by the fireball directly head on. He fell to the ground, burnt and unconscious.

Meanwhile, Naruto was battling the first attacker. The enemy shinobi pointed his claw at Naruto, and all three of the claw blades shot out. Naruto dodged them, but he suddenly saw that the blades were attached to chains. He turned around as soon as he turned around, the chain blades slashed through his left arm.

He jumped back and pulled out SeikaKage. Familiar black flames began to spread across the blade.

"It's time to finish this," Naruto thought.

However, the flames abruptly disappeared. Naruto fell on his knees started to cough blood violently. "What happened?" he wondered angrily. "Why did the flames go out and why do I a suddenly feel a wave of weakness come over me?" he gasped. "No! How could I have forgotten?"

* * *

(Three Years Ago) 

_Naruto was training with SeikaKage when he suddenly tapped into a power he had never felt before. SeikaKage__'__s normal flames turned black and Naruto f__elt a rush of power in his arm. _

_He tried blasting a tree, but was shocked to find that the fire was so strong that it not only sliced through, but obliterated, half the forest._

_"__Naruto!__"__ Naruto turned around to find Abrame. __"__Where did you learn that?__"__ he asked. _

_"__I don__'__t know. It just came to me.__"_

_"__From the look of it, you__'__ve tapped into SeikaKage__'__s shadow chakra; something I__'__ve never been able to do.__Now that you__'__re able to use it, __you__'__re going to learn about the consequences._

_"__Shadow chakra allows you the same jutsus and techniques, but with much more power. The shadow version of a jutsu will be three, maybe even five, stronger than a jutsu performed with normal chakra.__"_

_"__However, using shadow techniques comes with a price. Once you use one, your body will take damage directly proportional to __the amount of shadow chakra you use."_

_"__The more you use, the more torn your body with become. When you use SeikaKage__'__s shadow chakra, the damage will be lessened significantly. However, if you use __chakra too many ti__mes, the damage will accumulate.__"_

* * *

"I should've remembered Abrame's warning," Naruto thought. 

He got up from the ground and tried a normal fire release. Like before, the flames quickly died out, and Naruto once again fell to the ground in agony.

"Crap, my chakra network has been damaged," he realized. "I won't be able to use any of my chakra."

The enemy ninja was already charging for another attack. He shot three my chain blades, which Naruto quickly deflected with SeikaKage. Swinging the blade, he made a slash from the enemies left shoulder all the way to his right hip.

It only stopped the enemy ninja for a moment. Just as soon as the slash was made, the attack began once again. Naruto continued to block the attacker's claws and slash at him, but ninja was relentless. Under normal circumstances, Naruto would have already finished him off, but he was still suffering from the shadow chakra.

At first Naruto thought he could wear the attacker down with blood loss, but he soon discovered that they were both tiring at the same rate.

"God damn shadow chakra," he cursed. "He just won't wear out, and soon I'll be out of energy too."

By now, Sasuke had finished off his opponent. "Finish him Naruto!" he yelled.

"I have no choice. I have to kill him. If I don't, I might be the one to end up dead."

He made his decision. In an instant, he was behind the enemy shinobi. Trying to counterattack, he tried turning around to Naruto, but it was too late. By the time he had turned around, Naruto drove SeikaKage straight through his heart. The ninja finally fell to the ground, dead.

Naruto walked over to Kakashi. "Kai!" The Paralysis Jutsu was immediately released.

"All three of you, good job on protecting Sakoro." The burnt shinobi was beginning to awake. Kakashi rushed towards him and pinned him to a tree.

"Why did you attack us and are there others?!" Kakashi demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he sneered.

Kakashi raised a kunai to the man's throat. "Answer me or you end up like your pal over there," he said pointing to the dead ninja on ground.

Fear began to fill the man's eyes. "Fine, just don't kill me. We were sent by a ninja named Zabuza Momochi. He didn't expect any shinobi guards." When he said Zabuza's name, Sakoro's eyes suddenly looked fearful.

"Why does Zabuza want us dead?"

"He doesn't want you four dead. But he does want Sakoro finished."

"Why?"

"He never told us. He just promised us a lot of money if we killed him."

"And now you have no use for us," Kakashi sighed. Before the enemy could react, Kakashi elbowed him in the temple. The man immediately fell into unconsciousness. Kakashi turned to Sakoro, "You have some explaining to do."

"I suppose that it's only fair now that I've dragged you four into this mess. This might take a while; it's a long story."

"Years ago, I was an alchemist in Kirigakure. One day I accidentally knocked a beaker into a mixture I was working on. The result was a chakra multiplier. The liquid literally intensified a person chakra by ten-fold. Obviously, it would be something highly desired by shinobi."

"A few months after I created the mixture, a man came up to me and asked me if I was Sakoro Hatori. I said yes and he demanded the chakra solution. When I refused he said that he would one day take the solution from me and he walked away. I thought he was insane, until one day I was attacked on the streets."

"That was two months ago. As soon as it had happened, I ran for the safest village that I knew of, Konoha. However, now I must return to the Village Hidden in the Mist. They are holding my daughter hostage, and I must give them the chakra solution if my daughter is to live.

"Did the man say what his name was?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, he is the man that sent those two," he said nodding towards the two attackers. "I'm afraid I couldn't pay for an A-rank mission since I already used most of my money paying for the trip _to _Konoha. I'm very sorry."

"It's too late for that now. Zabuza is a Class A rogue shinobi. I'm sure that we should expect Zabuza to pay us a visit. We should be ready for him. Not just that, but we cannot let that chakra solution get into Zabuza's hands. Once he has it, he will be able to make more. "

"We will do our best to rescue your daughter Mr. Hatori, but you will be expected pay the amount of an A-rank mission."

"Very well, I suppose it's the least I can do if you are offering to save my daughter. And please, call me Sakoro. Mr. Hatori sounds much too formal. And once again, thank you for offering to save my daughter."

"It doesn't matter. But now that this crisis is over, I think we should move on," Kakashi said summarily. "We won't be able to do anything until we get to the village."

* * *

So I hope you like my version of Naruto's first mission. I bet you guys would love to know who's _really _behind everything. Sorry if my chapter title is a bit weird. I kind of rushed this chapter. 


	6. An Old Rival

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: This story seriously needs more reviews. I'm one of those people who love to get some feedback. I don't understand how so many people have this story marked as Story Alert or Favorite Story, when I'm getting so little reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but all shadow techniques and all OC's in this story belong to me.

* * *

Chapter 6: An Old Rival

Everybody was a little shaken after the sudden attack, especially Sakoro. For the first two days, all five of them were constantly darting their eyes, looking out for traps. But in the end, they all calmed down and returned to normal. Sakura went back to staring at Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakoro talked, and Naruto and Sasuke argued who did more during the attack.

"You dobe, you took so long to finish him off."

"I was messing with him the whole time!"

"Then why did you have to kill him in the end?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto had no answer. "That's what I thought," Sasuke grinned.

"Shut up!" Naruto roared as he pounced on Sasuke.

Both of them wrestled on the floor until Sasuke finally kicked Naruto away. "Is that all you can do?" Sasuke said mockingly.

Naruto smiled at the challenge. He threw three kunai but Kakashi blocked them with his glove guard. "Alright," Kakashi said sternly. "Break it up. Save it for the real fight up ahead."

Sasuke and Naruto both smirked. They looked forward to when they would be able to test their strength against each other.

* * *

After a week, their travels brought them to a mountainous region. Sakoro and Kakashi continued to have hushed conversations almost all the time. 

Climbing the mountains for hours, the three Genin began to question where Kakashi was going, but they said nothing.

Eventually, they reached the village gates. It was; however, not Kirigakure.

"What are we doing in Kumogakure!?" exclaimed Naruto angrily. "I thought we were supposed to meet Zabuza in Hidden Mist Village!"

"We can't confront Zabuza if we don't have the chakra solution," Kakashi explained impatiently.

"Then why are we going to the Village Hidden in the Clouds?" Naruto asked, still confused.

"You idiot; it means that the Sakoro hid the chakra solution in Kumogakure." Sasuke looked at Naruto and couldn't believe how anyone could be so stupid.

"That's right," Sakoro nodded in agreement. "I gave the solution to my son for protection. If someone came after the solution, they would confront me first, giving my son time to run."

"We need to get the solution from him."

"I don't get why you didn't just destroy the solution when you invented it?" Naruto wondered. "If it was so dangerous, why didn't you just pour it into the ground or something?"

Sakoro was about to answer, but Kakashi cut him off. "Now's not the time for that. What's important is getting the solution from Sakoro's son," he said as he walked away.

"Do you have a feeling that Kakashi's hiding something from us?" Naruto said curiously.

"Kakashi's always hiding something from us," Sakura answered. "Like, why does he wear his headband over his left eye, and what do his mouth and nose look like?"

"Hn, he probably has fish lips or something," said Sasuke dismissively.

Naruto and Sakura roared with laughter as they walked into the house, but all three of them gasped in shock at what they saw.

There was a man lying on the floor in a pool of blood, a knife sticking out of his throat. On the table was an envelope that was weighed down by a bottle filled with a clear liquid. When Sakura reached for it, the liquid swirled and turned a pale blue.

Sakoro walked over to table and picked up the envelope, his hands trembling. He slowly opened the envelope and pulled out two letters.

The first read:

_Father:_

_I am sorry that I have failed you. You entrusted me with the chakra solution, and I was too cowardly to __fulfill__ my duty. Read the other __letter__ and you will discover the truth. I will leave the chakra solution with you. I have failed __you; I do not deserve my life._

Sakoro was distraught and alarmed. He grasped the other letter, and disturbed to find that the letter was written in blood. As he read on, the expression on his face became filled with sadness, rage, and grief:

_Since your father refuses to__ give us the chakra solution, we have killed his daughter. Your sister is dead and you are next. If your father does not come forward with the solution in a week, it will be you that will pay with your life. The blood that this letter is written __in__ is your sister__'__s lifeblood. __If you attempt to destroy the solution, we will kill both you and father. __You have been warned._

Sakoro fell to the floor, Kakashi barely catching him. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. Tears streamed from his eyes as let out a cry of anguish. "You son of a bitch!!! I'll kill him! Zabuza, I'll make you burn in hell!!!"

Sakura and Naruto did their best to restrain Sakoro as he lost all control. His eyes had a crazed look, and his limbs flew everywhere, seeming to strike an imaginary demon he was fighting. He struck again and again; Naruto already had a black eye, and Sakura's lip was bleeding.

Sakoro continued his attack until Kakashi finally elbowed his temple. His eyes glazed over, and Sakoro fell to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness. Kakashi picked up the letter and started to read; Naruto and Sakura reading from the sides.

"From the look of it, our only option now is to confront Zabuza," Kakashi muttered gravely once he had finished reading.

Sakura looked on the verge of tears while Naruto had steely look on his face. "I'll kill him. He killed her, and I'll kill him for it," he vowed.

Kakashi swung Sakoro over his shoulder, "There is nothing left for us to do here," he said solemnly. The five of them headed for Kirigakure, but none of them carried the enthusiasm from before.

* * *

Sakura no longer acted fan-girlish around Sasuke, Naruto carried a dark look on his face, and Sasuke eyes were filled with a hatred that was beyond words. 

They traveled down the mountain, stepping over stones, jumping gorges, and walking past geyser fields. Time seemed crawl as they marched for the Village Hidden in the Mist. Hatred flooded out of each them, every inch of their being screamed for retribution.

Every moment seemed agonizing as each of them saw Sakoro's daughter murdered. They heard the cry for mercy; they saw the flash of steel, blood forming a puddle on the ground, and the lifeless body hitting the floor with a sickening thud.

* * *

After what felt like weeks, they finally arrived before gates of Kirigakure. There were two people already waiting for them beside the lake. Zabuza was standing there, with an enormous sword strapped to his back. Beside him was a cloaked figure with his hood pulled over him. 

"Sakoro, from the look of it, you don't intend on handing over the chakra solution do you?" Zabuza mused. "I see that you've brought guests along with you."

"It's going to end right here Zabuza," said Kakashi as he stepped out from behind Sakoro.

"If it isn't Hatake Kakashi, known as Copy Ninja Kakashi," said Zabuza, amused. "I didn't expect you to be here. But it doesn't matter; you won't be able to take me and the boy." He pointed at the hooded figure.

"That's why I have this." Kakashi pulled his headband off his left eye, revealing a Sharingan.

"So that's what he hides under his headband," Sakura said, surprised.

"Ahh, the renowned Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. And you Kakashi, posses it although you aren't part of the clan. Yet, you are so famous," Zabuza pondered. "You are known in every shinobi village as Sharingan Kakashi, the Man Who Copied over a Thousand Jutsu."

"How can he have the Sharingan?" Sasuke wondered, half curious, half confused.

"It doesn't matter if you use the Sharingan or not, you still won't be able to defeat us. And if try to have those brats help you, they'll all die."

Suddenly, for the first time, the cloaked figure spoke. "Naruto Uzumaki, it's been a long time. The last time I saw you, you were being led away by an old man."

"That voice, it sounds so familiar," thought Naruto.

He pulled his hood off, revealing his face to everyone.

"Kisaki!" Naruto was shocked.

"That's right. It's been seven years Naruto, and I'll bet you've been wasting your time training with that old man."

"You know this guy?" Sasuke asked.

"Kisaki, the last time I saw you, you had chakra blowing up in your face. You can't hope to beat me." Naruto dropped into a Taijutsu stance.

"You're not the only one who's received ninja training Naruto. I've found myself a teacher as well. Zabuza and I have been sent here to retrieve the chakra solution by my master, Orochimaru."

* * *

At that moment, everyone reacted. Kakashi attacked Zabuza, Sakura ran to protect Sakoro, and Naruto and Sasuke rushed Kisaki. 

Kisaki slowly raised his left arm as hundreds of snakes shot out. Naruto jumped back as he quickly slashed at the snakes. Snake heads and blood began to litter the ground, but soon, Naruto was bitten.

It was clone. The Inferno Clone exploded, blasting the snakes to pieces. Sasuke suddenly shunshined behind Kisaki and tried to stab him with a kunai. Kisaki spun to dodge it and he leapt back. Sasuke quickly perform a few seals. "**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu**! (Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Jutsu)"Dozens of fireballs flew at Kisaki, who struggled to avoid all of them.

Taking advantage of the moment, Sasuke and Naruto jumped at Kisaki and showered him with shuriken. Almost every single one hit its mark.

Kisaki staggered backward. "Attacks like that don't affect me," he laughed maliciously. Sasuke and Naruto watched in horror as Kisaki ripped out each shuriken one by one. Every wound that they had inflicted slowly began to heal.

"The Hinashi clan was well known within Kumogakure because of our Kekkei Genkai, flesh regeneration. Any non-fatal wound will have no effect on me whatsoever. And even if you do inflict a mortal wound, there's still a chance that I will survive."

While Naruto and Sasuke were fighting Kisaki, Kakashi had been fighting Zabuza. Kakashi stabbed Zabuza with a kunai, but it was a Water Clone. He spun around and barely dodged Zabuza's sword. Zabuza dashed back and executed a dozens of hand seals. "**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**," he roared as the water in the lake swirled. There was a giant splash as the water dragon erupted from the water and headed for Kakashi.

Kakashi's Sharingan immediately copied the technique as his own water dragon appeared and knocked away Zabuza's. Once again, Zabuza swung his sword at Kakashi. He evaded it and began to gather chakra in his palm when Zabuza vanished, reappeared behind Kakashi, and ran sword through Kakashi to the hilt.

"And so ends Sharingan Kakashi," Zabuza whispered cruelly. But as soon he said those words, Kakashi melted into water. "He copied my jutsu!" He started to turn around, when a kunai suddenly touched his throat.

"It's over Zabuza," said the real Kakashi.

"I'm impressed Kakashi. I thought it was all talk when I heard about you, but I guess I'm wrong. However, I'm better."

Kakashi suddenly realized it was clone. He stabbed it and ran for Sakoro but it was already too late. Zabuza swung his sword, trying to decapitate both Sakura and Sakoro. They ducked, but as soon as they did, Zabuza knocked both of them unconscious.

Kisaki saw Zabuza's clone melt and shunshined. He rematerialized next to Sakura. Both Zabuza and Kisaki grabbed Sakura once they saw Kakashi rushing towards them.

"Hey Naruto!" he shouted. Naruto turned towards Kisaki. "The shinobi who killed Abrame…it was me!" Before anyone could react, Zabuza, Kisaki, and Sakura vanished.

* * *

The truth has been brought to light. I hope you like this chapter. Sorry it took so long, I just got back from Japan three days ago. Please Read and Review! 

P.S. I'm going to do some editing on my old chapters, so if you can't access one, just try again later.


	7. Battle to the Finish

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: I have changed all the English techniques in my story to Japanese. Of course, I have given translations. I'm sorry if this somehow inconveniences you, but the original names are always better. Sadly, the jutsu that I have created aren't able to be translated, but I'm still trying.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Writing this on every chapter is starting to get really annoying so this will be the last time that I will write it.)

* * *

Chapter 7: Battle to the Finish

After Kisaki, Zabuza, and Sakura disappeared, Naruto was the first to react.

"We have to go after her!" he demanded. "Knowing Kisaki, there's no telling what he might do to her."

"It's probably a trap," Kakashi considered aloud as he pulled his headband back over his Sharingan.

"Of course it's a trap! Why else would they take her? They want us to follow them and then they'll ambush us!" Naruto looked like he was about to burst from anger. His nostrils were flaring and his breathing was heavy.

"Naruto!" Naruto immediately turned to face Sasuke, who summarily punched him across the face.

"You need to calm down," he said, calm and collected like nothing had happened. "We need to think of a strategy so we can get Sakura back alive without killing ourselves."

Naruto's breaths started to thin and he realized Sasuke was right. "What do you suggest we should do Kakashi? Being a Jounin, you must have dealt with dozens of hostage situations."

Kakashi nodded. "First, we know that we have no choice but to follow them. But we must be cautious, since it's most likely a trap. Second, we know that as a last resort, if we have no other way to save Sakura, we can always trade her for the chakra solution."

"Which is something that will never happen!" Sakoro interrupted.

"Yes, but a comrade's life will always come before a mission," Kakashi said firmly. "We know that Zabuza is an A-rank criminal, but that Kisaki boy appears to be incredibly dangerous. That Kekkei Genkai of his will prove to be troublesome."

"It doesn't matter; I'll kill him for murdering Abrame!" Naruto snarled.

"You'll get your chance soon enough," Kakashi said while pulling out a kunai. He slit his thumb and thrust his hand against the ground.

"**Kuchiyose no**** Jutsu**!" (Summoning Jutsu)

"This dog is named Pakkun. He will track down Sakura by her scent." The dog began sniffing the ground, as if looking for something.

"I've got the scent boss," the dog said after a few minutes.

"Holy crap!" Naruto shouted surprised. "A talking dog!"

Sasuke and Kakashi just shook their heads and rolled their eyes.

"Got a problem with that kid?" the dog shot back.

"Uhhh…No! It's just that-" Naruto began.

"-that it's weird for an animal to talk?" said Pakkun, finishing the sentence.

Naruto nodded. "Well get used to it, I'll be talking for the rest of this mission," Pakkun said harshly. Naruto just nodded again.

Kakashi sighed. He turned to Sakoro. "Give us the chakra solution and go home. Your part in this mission is over, but Konoha will expect a check from you within a week."

Sakoro nodded and gave Kakashi the bottle. Kakashi slipped it into his back pouch and the three shinobi and the dog took off.

* * *

They dashed through the trees between the rays of sunlight that broke through the canopy. For hours, they followed Paku, taking seemingly random twists and turns through the forest. Pakkun suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked. 

"Their scent has disappeared right here," Pakkun explained.

"Then that means…" Sasuke trailed off as shower of kunai rained down on them. They jumped away, but as they did, Kakashi saw the exploding tags.

There was an enormous explosion that all the trees to bits. Luckily, Pakkun had dismissed himself at the last moment, and all three shinobi had used the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Jutsu).

The substitution logs were obliterated, leaving no trace. Kisaki and Zabuza jumped into the newly made clearing as they looked for bodies. From the shadows, the three ninja saw Sakura strapped to Zabuza's back as he paced around the clearing, looking for them.

Kakashi chose to strike that instant. All three of them leapt out of the shadows as Naruto and Sasuke targeted Kisaki, while Kakashi attacked Zabuza.

Zabuza threw Sakura off and whipped out his sword, trying to cleave Kakashi in half. Kakashi dodged the attack and lifted his headband as fell to the ground and hit a tree.

"Ha! Your Sharingan won't do you any good if you can't see," Zabuza scoffed. "**Kirigakure no ****Jutsu**!" (Hidden Mist Jutsu)

A thick fog began to cover the clearing, mainly clouding around Kakashi. A voice came out from the mist. "What will you do now that I've rendered your Sharingan useless Kakashi?"

No answer came. Kakashi was a sitting duck as he waited for Zabuza's attack.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke were busy battling Kisaki as they noticed a fog come over them. Sasuke was using all manner of fire jutsu to kill Kisaki. "**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Phoenix Immortal Fire Justu)!" Sasuke shot dozens of fireballs at Kisaki while Naruto tried to cut him with his sword. 

"You guys are pathetic," said Kisaki with disappointment. "You would think that a few years at the ninja academy would produce some results." He executed a few quick seals. "**Forbidden Arts: Flesh Clone**!"

A large chunk of Kisaki's was torn away leaving him ripped in half. Sasuke and Naruto were disgusted as they saw Kisaki's inner organs. Each one of the halves; however, healed, forming two Kisakis.

Naruto and Sasuke both performed the exact same seals at the same speed. They both finished, and took a deep breath. "**Katon: Karyu Endan **(Fire Release: Dragon Flame Missile Jutsu)!" they yelled as two enormous blasts of fire shot at the two Kisakis.

Both of the Kisakis calmly made a seal. "**Kuchiyose: Rashomon **(Summoning: Rashomon)!" A giant gate erupted from the ground and blocked both attacks. Sasuke and Naruto were dumbstruck. The Dragon Flame Missile was the strongest fire jutsu they knew.

Naruto knew he if he wanted to kill Kisaki, he had no choice but to use shadow chakra. He reluctantly pulled out SeikaKage and tapped into the shadow chakra. Black flames once again spread across the blade, causing it to grow.

"From the look of it, I'm not the only one who's been taught forbidden techniques," Kisaki smirked. "Show me what you can do with that toothpick of yours."

"This blade," Naruto said hatefully, "Will kill you!" He rushed at Kisaki and Sasuke followed his lead.

"It looks like it's time to get serious," Kisaki said excitedly. From his neck, black marks began to spread across his face like fire. His eyes took on a lustful quality as the clone activated its seal as well.

Sasuke ran at the clone, but was immediately stabbed. He turned into a log covered with explosion tags. The log promptly exploded, blasting away the clone. But when the smoke cleared, the clone was still there, with a part of its body blown away, leaving Sasuke shocked.

The clone knew what was on Sasuke's mind immediately. "You probably think I should have dissolved or something," he sneered. "I'm a clone made from Kisaki's own flesh, with his Kekkei Genkai. If you want to kill me, it will just as hard as killing Kisaki himself."

* * *

Naruto charged Kisaki and shunshined behind him. He slashed with SeikaKage as Kisaki spun around and made a cut from his right shoulder to his left hip. Kisaki jumped away and tried to heal his wound, but nothing happened. 

"It looks like wounds inflicted by shadow chakra aren't easy to heal," Naruto smirked with satisfaction. He rushed Kisaki once more as Kisaki pulled out a two kunai knives and channeled his chakra into them, forming two chakra swords. The two began a dance of blades as both tried to cut the other.

* * *

Kakashi was stuck in a hopeless mist that his Sharingan couldn't see through. He waited for Zabuza to strike, but Zabuza preferred to sit in the mist, waiting the right moment. Suddenly, Zabuza made his move. Five Zabuza's charged at Kakashi, all of them trying to cleave him to pieces. Instead of confronting them; however, he spun around and stabbed the real Zabuza behind him. 

"My Sharingan can't be fooled Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said darkly. "I can recognize your water clones in an instant."

Zabuza's right shoulder was wounded, disabling his right arm. He picked up his sword with his left hand and pulled into a guard position. Now that he had revealed his position, he had no choice but to strike. He charged at Kakashi who was now pulling something out of his back pouch.

"If Orochimaru wants the chakra solution so much, then he can have it." Kakashi threw the bottle at Zabuza.

Zabuza raised his arm to catch it, but Kakashi breezed through a set of seals. " **Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" The fireball hit the bottle causing an enormous explosion. Kakashi leapt away and saw the chakra solution turn red, quickly swirl around Zabuza, and implode within itself. Zabuza fell to his knees. "What did you do Kakashi?" Zabuza demanded.

Kakashi sighed. "I've destroyed the solution and used you as the sacrifice.

* * *

(A few days ago) 

_"Tell me, why didn't destroy the solution once you realized how dangerious it was?"_

_"Because the results would be terribly dangerous," Sakoro whispered. "The bottle that the solution is in is specially designed to stabilize the solution. If the solution comes into contact with anything besides a human mouth or air, it will will immediately explode and destroy the nearest source of chakra. Try to pour it down the sink, and it will destroy your chakra network anyway. That solution is not only powerful, but also incredibly unstable."_

* * *

"I've completely destroyed your chakra network," Kakashi explained as he began to gather chakra in his palm. 

Kakashi's hand began to glow blue as lightning began to spew from the chakra is his hand. As Zabuza saw it, he struggled to move.

"Take a good look at this technique, Zabuza," Kakashi said, holding up the ball of lightning. "It will be the last jutsu you will ever see."

Kakashi ran at Zabuza, "CHIDORI!" he roared as he plunged the mass of chakra into Zabuza's chest, causing blood to stream from his heart. Kakashi pulled his bloodied hand out, as he looked down to Zabuza.

Zabuza fell to his knees, coughing blood, as he used his arms for support. He struggled to keep his vision focused as he gazed upward to Kakashi.

"They say that all things become clear in death," Kakashi said sadly.

Zabuza opened his mouth to speak, but he felt his heart pound its last beat and he slumped to floor, dead.

* * *

Sasuke was in a bad situation. The Kisaki clone healed everything that Sasuke had thrown at it. They were currently in a vicious taijutsu match where the clone was taking dozens of kunai slashes, all of which were quickly healed. 

"Is this all the strength that the prestigious Uchiha clan possesses?" the Kisaki clone scoffed mockingly.

"You forget that I have yet to awaken my Sharingan," Sasuke said fiercely. "Once I do, I kill you in the blink of an eye."

"But until then, you're at my mercy." The clone was done messing around. He rushed Sasuke, but the moment he was right in front of Sasuke, he flickered out of sight. Sasuke stood still, trying to sense the clone's presence.

The clone reappeared and tried to run Sasuke through with kunai, but he was seen. At point blank, Sasuke blasted the clone with fire.

"**Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu)!"

The effect of the technique was tremendous. Kisaki's clone was blown away, and lost at least two-thirds of his body in the blast. Unable to heal fast enough, he activated his curse seal's second level.

His healing suddenly took on a burst of speed as his body quickly grew back. The clone's body began to mutate as spikes grew from its arms and legs. Its fingers and toes transformed into claws and his skin became a purplish black. His teeth turned into piercing fangs, and from his back grew even more spikes. Sasuke was both disgusted and afraid at seeing the clone's transformation.

The clone raised its arms to the sky, as if looking above. "Witness the power that Lord Orochimaru has granted me!" the Kisaki clone shrieked.

Sasuke began his attack, but before he could move he felt two blades sink into his back. He turned and found that the clone had grown a spike from both palms, and used them as weapons along with his claws. Kisaki's clone drove the spikes deeper, causing Sasuke to scream from pain, making him immobile from the agony.

"Is it really going to end like this?" Sasuke asked himself silently. "Am I going to die right now, before I can destroy _him_?"

The spikes were driven deeper again as the clone gained a sadistic smile from Sasuke's pain. "His power…he's so strong. I can't win," Sasuke thought hopelessly. "NO! I won't die before I can avenge my clan!"

The clone felt a burst of strength come from Sasuke, as Sasuke ripped the spikes from himself and spun to meet the clone. Kisaki's was astonished to find that Sasuke's eyes had transformed. His eyes had turned red, and two toma marks encircled the pupil. "So this is the legendary Sharingan," the clone thought, amused and curious.

"You won't last very long with wounds like that," he told Sasuke.

"Perfect, then I'll have just enough time to kick your ass."

"You sound really confident for someone who's streaming blood all over himself," the clone smirked.

The replica then charged Sasuke at a blinding speed, but Sasuke's Sharingan saw his every movement. He saw the Kisaki's clone circle him once and come at his left and thrust his right hand. Sasuke blocked it with a kunai and the clone immediately flickered into existence. "Your speed won't help you anymore," Sasuke said with a grin.

"What about my strength?" the clone said maliciously. He swung his other arm around with such force that it pierced his chest and broke out through his right shoulder. Sasuke turned into smoke; it was a substitution.

"I can see every move you make before you can make it," said Sasuke from behind the clone. Kisaki's clone spun around. "You sound pretty confident. Do you have anything to back up that confidence?"

The clone suddenly felt a drop in his chakra. He could feel the spikes on his body begin to recede. It was a cool feeling; like having several ice cubes move across your skin. The feeling continued as his fangs and claws withdraw as well. There was a burst of warmth as his skin returned to its original color, and it disappeared along with the feeling of power.

"You…you disabled the curse seal!" he stuttered with surprise.

"Just another surprise thanks to my Sharingan," Sasuke replied. "Which makes it much easier to do this!" He charged at Kisaki with enough speed to rival that of Kisaki's second curse seal form. Revealing a kunai in each hand, Sasuke proceeded with a series of taijutsu maneuvers as he continuously slashed the clone. Without its strength, speed, and spikes, Kisaki's clone was now virtually at Sasuke's mercy. The twin kunai flashed once more, slicing Kisaki from head to toe.

"That's not going to work. Even without my curse seal, my Kekkei Genkai still heals all more injuries," he said with certainty.

"Then I'll have to try and kill you anyway," he shouted as he finished a few seals. "**Katon: Haisekisho** (Fire Release: Burning Ash Jutsu)!" Sasuke breathed out a huge cloud of ash that completely surrounded the Kisaki's clone. The clone let out a scream of pain as the ash severely burned him. The ash burned his eyes making him unable to see where he was going. Burns covered every inch of his skin, every time he inhaled, the ash burned his lungs. "It's time to end it," Sasuke said with a sense of finality in his voice. He performed a few familiar seals and took a deep breath.

"**Katon: Karyu Endan**(Fire Release: Dragon Flame Missile Jutsu)!"

An enormous blast of fire shot at Kisaki's clone, but its eyes had been blinded by the ash. The fire splashed across the clone's chest and traveled along his limbs. Both the fire and ash continued to burn him incinerating his body. When the fire and ash extinguished, the clone had disappeared completely. "It's finally over," Sasuke said wearily while deactivating his Sharingan. Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes widened and the wounds in his back suddenly stopped dripping. He slumped to the floor, unmoving.

* * *

The real Kisaki had been slashed several by the shadow blade, but the shadow chakra was beginning to take its toll on Naruto. He felt periodic sharp pangs of pain, but he ignored them. 

Naruto thrust SeikaKage at Kisaki's chest for the fifth time, and once again, it was deflected by Kisaki's chakra swords. Kisaki had yet to land a slice on Naruto; Naruto was simply a better swordsman.

"From the look of it, the old man trained you well in the ways of the sword, but Orochimaru has given me power beyond your wildest dreams," Kisaki said with a feral look in his eyes.

Before Naruto even saw a hand sign, tendrils of chakra shot from Kisaki's body, knocking SeikaKage from his hands and binding Naruto's hands and legs together. Naruto could feel himself grow weaker and weaker.

"Your…draining my chakra…," Naruto managed to gasp weakly.

"That's right," Kisaki smirked. "Which gives me the chakra for this jutsu." He completed some complex hand signs.

"**Raiton: Gian** (Lightning Release: False Darkness)!" he cried as two lightning bolts shot from his mouth.

At point blank, the two lightning bolts completely blasted through Naruto, making two burnt holes in his chest. After Kisaki had drained Naruto of all his chakra, he released him, and the chakra tendrils sank back into his body.

She felt a spasm of pain and her ears rang as she opened her eyes. Sakura lifted her head off the ground and saw a fierce battle between Naruto and Kisaki. Naruto was bleeding heavily. "I have to help," she thought unsteadily. She struggled to get up and she saw Naruto fall to the ground. Trying her best, she rushed Kisaki and tried to stab him, but he effortlessly sidestepped. Kisaki viciously kicked Sakura across the face over and over again, finally smashing his heel on the back of her head.

Naruto fell to the ground, SeikaKage next to him. "I have no chakra. My body was already damaged from the shadow chakra, and now I have two enormous, charred holes in my chest," he panted staring at the ground. "I'm probably going to die in a few minutes. I have to kill Kisaki. I have to avenge Abrame and help Sakura!" He thought desperately for something that would help him in his current situation.

He found one.

* * *

(Three Years Ago: Continued explanation of shadow chakra) 

_"__Shadow techniques have near limitless possibilities. Shadow chakra does not follow the laws that govern normal chakra, which is why it is so dangerous. For example, normal chakra requires rest to replenish it, but shadow chakra multiplies on __its__ own. In other words, you have literally limitless chakra. However, since it constantly multiplies, you __must keep using it, which continuously damages you._

_"__There are two ways to summon shadow chakra. Either you convert normal chakra into shadow chakra, or you can fill your body with it. When you use the __conversion__ method, it will take a double amount of regular chakra to make a normal amount of shadow chakra. _

_But if you fill your body with shadow chakra, you will need a source to draw the chakra from. __For a while, you will __experience__ an __enormous burst__ of power, but s__ince you must keep using the chakra to stay alive, and you take damage from using the chakra, you will eventually die._

_Therefore, you must promise me that you will never fill__ your body with shadow chakra. But if you must, t__here is only one condition where you are permitted to use it.__"_

_"__What would that occasion be?__"__ Naruto asked._

_"When you are__ certain that you are going to die__"__ Abrame said darkly._

* * *

Naruto knew there was no other way if he wanted to defeat Kisaki. He picked up SeikaKage, raised his arms, and pointed the blade toward himself. He gently pierced the tip of the blade into chest and allowed the shadow chakra to fill his body. 

He could feel the chakra pulsing through his body, and as he got back on his feet, Kisaki could see the shadow chakra pouring of him.

"Such power," Kisaki thought. "How could that old man have taught Naruto such a technique?"

"I'm going to destroy you Kisaki," Naruto growled angrily. "I'm going to rip you apart piece by piece."

Naruto's entire body was aflame with black fire. SeikaKage was even larger than normal and the power it was emitting was incredible. (Think the size of Ichigo's sword in Bleach, but a little bigger). With impossible speed, Naruto was everywhere at once as Kisaki tried futilely to avoid the deadly shadow blade. "If this continues, I'm going to die. My Kekkei Genkai has no effect on this damn shadow chakra."

Kisaki's body started to become similar to his clone's as he activated his curse seal's second level. Fangs, claws, and spikes grew as his skin turned the familiar purplish black.

Naruto swung his sword again and cleaved off three of Kisaki's spikes as he raised his arm to block the blade. Kisaki grew giant spike claws out of both his wrists. He slashed both claws in an attempt to cut Naruto, but he blocked them with his sword. Kisaki jumped back and shot dozens of spikes at Naruto, all of them immediately replaced by newly grown spikes.

After waves and waves of spikes, Naruto blocked all the spikes and decieded to counterattack. In a flash, Naruto disappeared and sliced completely sliced off Kisaki's right arm. Kisaki thrust his left claw into Naruto chest. He felt a pulse of chakra burst in his chest, damaging his organs. Clenched in pain, Naruto sliced the claw away and aimed for Kisaki's head. Kisaki leapt away and showered Naruto with spikes. He managed to avoid most of the spikes, but the majority of them sank into Naruto's limbs.

Kisaki grew a massive spike sword out of his right hand. In an instant, he was in front Naruto. Bringing the blade down in a wide arc, the spike slashed across his abdomen. Kisaki kicked Naruto, who landed twenty feet away.

"I've sworn to kill you Kisaki and I will," Naruto said as he attempted to rise.

"This isn't about determination Naruto. It's physically impossible for you to get up. You spine is the only thing that's keeping you from splitting into two pieces, so don't push yourself or else you'll end up like your two friends," Kisaki laughed as he nodded towards Sasuke and Sakura.

"I won't let my friends die at the hands of someone like you!"

Suddenly, red chakra exploded from Naruto. He ripped out the spikes in his chest as the chakra began to heal his wounds. The shadow chakra was forced out of his system as the red chakra healed all wounds that had been made. SeikaKage turned a bloody red and emitted a demonic force. Kisaki rushed to attack, but Naruto caught the spike blade and forcefully ripped it out of Kisaki's hand. He swung around SeikaKage to kill Kisaki but he extended his neck and used his fangs to catch the sword in his mouth. Kisaki bit down on the blade and there was a huge Crack! as SeikaKage snapped. All the chakra within the blade spiraled out with explosive force. Both Naruto and Kisaki were blasted back.

As both of them tried to get up, each of them noticed that the other had sustained heavy wounds from the chakra explosion. Just then, there was another explosion. Kisaki turned and saw the chakra solution being blasted by fire. "Well Naruto," Kisaki smirked. "It looks like I don't have any reason to be here anymore. We'll have to settle this some other time." With a poof of smoke, Kisaki was gone.

* * *

Wow, longest chapter ever! This chapter is two times longer than my other ones. 

I'm not going to try and explain every single jutsu in this chapter because I used so many. The only one that should need explaining would be the Rashamon summoning. Basically it creates a demonic form of the Kyoto Gate, blocking almost any attack.

I hope you liked it! Please read and review!


	8. New Beginnings

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: I'm starting to get writer's block more and more. I have too many plot ideas and it's getting difficult to choose. I was thinking of writing another fic along with this one to vent some of my other ideas. Does anyone have any requests for a fic?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Sigh, a lost opportunity).

* * *

Chapter 8: New Beginnings

_Kakashi and Zabuza were clashing blades when they both felt it. An explosion of raw demonic power. "This chakra…has the seal broken?" Kakashi thought desperately._

"_Where is that chakra coming from? Its power is so intense." Zabuza lifted his sword. "You sealed a demon into that boy didn't you? That blonde kid is the container for some kind of demon isn't he?" Kakashi didn't answer, but that was all Zabuza needed._

_Zabuza smirked and began his attack once more._

* * *

As soon as Kisaki had disappeared, Naruto slowly rose to his feet. He felt strange with the red chakra flowing through him. The power he felt was incredible, but it the chakra's presence was extraordinary and foreign. It was like using someone else's body. 

Naruto limped towards Sakura and saw that the mist still lingered. The sound of birds chirping filled the air abruptly, there was a scream of pain, and the mist quickly began to lift. Once the haze cleared, Naruto saw Zabuza lying on the ground, unmoving, with a gaping wound in his chest. Kakashi was breathing heavily with blood slowly dripping from his hand.

Kakashi steadily walked over to Sasuke and gently slung him over his shoulder. "Naruto pick Sakura up. Our work here is finished and these two need medical attention."

Naruto nodded and knelt down. He put his ear to her chest and listened for a pulse. "Naruto, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked shrewdly. Naruto quickly blushed as he realized what Kakashi was thinking.

"It's not like that-…I was just checking…pulse…" Naruto's blush was now a shade that rivaled Hinata's. Kakashi gave Naruto a perverted smile causing him to look away.

Naruto carried Sakura in his arms, and noticed the heavy bruising on her head. Her face was severely swollen and she seemed extremely fragile as both he and Kakashi took off for Konoha.

* * *

Once, Team 7 reached the hospital, Kakashi had Sasuke put in Intensive Care; Sakura was given an MRI scan. Against his will, Naruto was ordered to be treated as well. Leaving them in the capable hands of the hospital, Kakashi sped towards Hokage tower to report his mission. "Sarutobi's going to have one hell of a kick out of this mission report," Kakashi thought smiling. 

He dashed across rooftops until he finally reached the tower. Finding Sandime's office, he knocked on the door twice. A slightly hoarse, but steady voice beckoned him to enter. Kakashi crossed the threshold of the room and saw Sarutobi seated at his desk. "How did their first mission go?" Sandime asked.

Kakashi explained how Sakoro didn't explain the entire situation, resulting in the team's heavy injuries. Orochimaru's involvement and the chakra solution were also clarified. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's actions during the mission and Zabuza's death were reported as well. Sandime was in deep thought. "How are the three of them now?"

"Sasuke has already lost large amounts of blood. He has two large, gaping wounds in his back and several minor injuries spread along his body. Sakura has sustained severe head injuries. Her brain might be affected, but until she wakes up, we have no way of verifying it. Naruto is just as bad as Sasuke, possibly worse. His chakra network is significantly damaged, and he has serious internal bleeding. From his movements, it is also safe to assume that he has fractured one or two ribs, a leg, and maybe an arm."

"It seems rather serious," Sarutobi mused. "If Orochimaru is involved, then it must be another one of his conspiracies to destroy Konoha." He turned to an Anbu at his side. "I want border guard reinforced and more shinobi patrolling the village perimeter. All non-Konoha ninja that enter the village must be tracked and followed."

"It will be done Sarutobi-sama." The Anbu dashed off and Sandime once again turned his attention to Kakashi. "Your team is heavily injured so I don't want them on the training grounds for two weeks. From what you've said, the three of them need time to recover. That child, Kisaki, appears to be an incredible threat, especially if he's training under Orochimaru."

"There is also one more issue I want to address," Kakashi stated. "During the mission, Naruto unleashed the Kyuubi's chakra. I fear that the seal has weakened over the years. We need to find someone that can teach Naruto how to control the Kyuubi's power or he might kill us all."

Sandime put his hands together and rested his head on his wrists. He knew Kakashi was right, but he couldn't think of anyone that was powerful enough to help Naruto control the Kyuubi. "After Naruto has recovered, send him to this office. I want to speak with him about his family. It's time he learned the truth." Kakashi nodded.

* * *

It wasn't until three days later that Naruto finally awoke. He groggily opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling through his lashes. Trying to rise, he instantly felt a searing burn in his midsection and arms. His body was aching and sore in so many places that he didn't dare move again. He looked around the room and saw his mission outfit and the snapped SeikaKage sheathed; both were on his bedside table. The bright light from the room burned his eyes and he shut his eyes again. But before he could drift off to sleep again, the door to his room opened. "You don't have to pretend to sleep. I already know that you're awake." It was Kakashi's voice. "Consider yourself lucky, Naruto. Sasuke's room is full of fan girls and for once, they've got him cornered," he chuckled. 

"What do you want Kakashi?" Naruto said impatiently.

"It seems that Sasuke will be ok, but his movements will be strained for a few weeks. My real concern is Sakura." Naruto could sense the worry in his voice.

"What's wrong with her? I thought that out of the three of us, Sakura had the least injuries."

"Sakura took some really severe head injuries. At the moment, she's in a coma. There's no telling when she'll come out of it," Kakashi said gravely as he left.

After hearing this, Naruto felt that it was his fault now that Sakura was in a coma. He remembered how Sakura had tried to help him, but ended up being viciously beaten. "I have to become stronger to protect the people close to me. I'll cower in fear no more," he thought determinedly.

Two weeks after Naruto's conversation with Kakashi, Sandime summoned Naruto to his office. "Naruto, I believe that it's time that you learned the truth about you family. The council wanted to keep the truth from you for the rest of your life, but I've decided to go against their wishes."

Naruto eyes widened in anticipation. He knew nothing about his family, and now that he thought about it, he knew almost about Abrame either. There were so many things that Naruto wished he had asked Abrame before he had died. But Sarutobi shattered everything Naruto knew about Abrame with five words. "Abrame was your great-uncle."

The shock that Naruto had on his face was pure astonishment, but Sarutobi kept a solemn face. "When you were sent to Lightning Country, the Anbu were searching for Abrame. However, they were intercepted and the Raikage and I have been on rocky ground ever since. Anyway, after Abrame found you in the orphanage, he instantly recognized who you were."

"For years, we communicated while monitoring your progress as a shinobi. But Abrame's death was completely unexpected. He was supposed to raise you until you became of age. When he told me of your talent with SeikaKage, I was surprised. Neither father nor you grandfather received abilities with the sword. To Abrame's knowledge, you were the only person in the family beside himself who had inherited SeikaKage's powers. We both agreed to train you in the ways of the sword. Unfortunately, his death was a snag in our plan."

Naruto was still dazed from discovering that Abrame was his great-uncle. He couldn't believe that after all those years, Abrame had been teaching him in Sachiki tradition. "Theoretically, your lack of dominant Sachiki blood should have prevented you from inheriting use of SeikaKage's abilities, but we both believed that the Kyuubi may have strengthened those traits," Sarutobi continued. "The bond that you share with that sword is much stronger than you know. It is link between you and Abrame and the love that he had for you. You are its true wielder. Do you ever think about these things?"

"No…not really," Naruto answered stupidly.

"That just proves that you're an idoit, doesn't it?" Naruto turned towards the voice and found Sasuke and Kakashi standing in the doorway.

"I see that you've recovered Sasuke, despite those gaping holes your back," Naruto smirked.

"Hn. At least I wasn't so weak that I had rely on demon power to beat Kisaki."

"Speak for yourself. You would've died if you hadn't awakened your Sharingan at the last second."

"You dobe-," Sasuke began but Kakashi cut them off.

"Alright you two," Kakashi said smiling.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, how's Sakura doing?"

Kakashi's face suddenly turned solemn. "Sakura has awakened from her coma." Naruto face lit up and Sasuke had a ghost of a smile on his. "However, she has absolutely no memory of who she is. She probably has amnesia from the injuries she sustained."

Naruto's expression suddenly became serious. He still felt that it was his fault that Sakura had been injured so severely. "Sakura will need a guide to help her around the village now that she doesn't remember who she is. Any volunte-," Kakashi turned towards the two genin, but found that Naruto has already vanished. "Well Sasuke, it looks like your going to be spending your free time escorting Sakura around," Kakashi said grinning.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

Naruto had left the room as quickly as possible. He really didn't want to be a tour guide for an amnesiac, even if it was Sakura. He decided to pay Hinata a visit. Walking along the streets, Naruto saw that he was still receiving glares from other people. 

After a few minutes, Naruto finally saw the Hyuuga Complex's gates. Hearing angry voices, he walked closer and saw a man in white robes screaming at Hinata.

"You are a disgrace to the entire Hyuuga clan! You can't even compare to your sister Hanabi, who's five years younger than you are!

The man in white robes force Hinata out the complex and slap her brutally. Naruto saw that her face was cringed in sadness and tears were streaming from her eyes. She was also heavily covered in bruises. He waited for the man to go back inside before he approached Hinata.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Naruto asked, kneeling beside her.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said surprised. "I'm so s-sorry that y-you ha-have to see m-me like this." Naruto helped her up and comforted her as they walked.

"Who is he and how can he treat you like that?" Naruto said fiercely.

"He's my father, Hiashi Hyuuga, and he has every right to treat me the way he does," Hinata said sadly. "I don't deserve to be the heiress of the Hyuuga clan."

"Don't talk about yourself like that," Naruto said compassionately. "Hinata, I know you can become strong. You just need to believe in yourself."

"It's no use Naruto. I'll never be able to compare with my cousin Neji." Hinata's tears began to flow once more as she gave up hope.

"You cousin Neji?" Naruto looked confused.

Hinata wiped her tears and explained the main house and branch system of the Hyuuga clan. She told Naruto about the seal put on members of the branch house and the resentment between the houses.

"Neji is considered to be the greatest prodigy in the Hyuuga clan's entire history. My father sees enormous promise in him, except for the fact that he belongs in the branch house. He even says that there would be a good chance that I would be disowned for the clan if I didn't become stronger. You saw how he was. He's already given up all hope on me." Hinata look on the verge of tears again. "I just…want to become stronger…so my father will be proud of me."

"Hinata, I'll do whatever I can to help you become stronger. I've been looking for a training partner anyway," Naruto said smiling.

"Hinata you believed in me and accepted me for who I was. Now, I believe that your father's wrong. You can become strong; you just need the right teacher. I'll teach you every Abrame taught me. We'll prove your father wrong.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata was beaming with happiness. "He cares enough to help me," she thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasuke was showing Sakura around Konoha. They were touring the streets while Sasuke told her about her life. "Wait, so who am I again?" Sakura asked for tenth time. 

The normally emotionless Sasuke was completely frustrated as he began to tear at his hair. He struggled to restrain from shouting. "Your name is Sakura Haruno. You are a kunoichi from Konohagakure. Being another one of my millions of fangirls, you constantly follow me everywhere annoy me."

"Oh, is that why I'm following you right now?"

"No! You're following me around because you don't remember who you are!" Sasuke said loudly. "God, I didn't think it was possible, but you're even more annoying before."

"Ughh, and you're probably the most stuck up boy I've ever met. There's no way I ever had a crush on you."

"I'm the only boy you can remember!"

"I forgot who _I _am. I still know who you are!" Sakura said intensely.

"Then what's my name?"

Sakura silence caused Sasuke to smirk. "Exactly. You have no idea who I am do you."

Sakura just smiled. "What's that smile for?" Sasuke said suspiciously. She still didn't say anything. "Say something!" Silence. "Answer me!" Sasuke grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"I'm just driving you crazy aren't I?" Sakura asked him.

Sasuke's eye twitched as he lingered on the brink of explosion. He tackled Sakura onto the ground and pinned down her shoulders. He had a look of pure hatred on his face. "Who's the one with the crush now?" Sakura giggled.

"Look, I never wanted the job of being your tour guide. Can't you at least make this easy for me?" Sasuke begged her desperately.

Sakura pretended to look thoughtful. "Ummmm…no!"

Sasuke eye twitched with complete killing intent. He was about to explode with rage, when someone on the street suddenly shouted, "GET A ROOM YOU TWO! KEEP THAT KIND OF STUFF IN THE BEDROOM!"

Both of them blushed as they Sasuke got off Sakura. "Aren't you going to help me up?" Sakura said while extending a hand to Sasuke.

"No, you can pick yourself up."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to help women?"

Sasuke's face became solemn. "I don't really…like to talk about my family."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Please?"

"No!"

Sakura continued to beg for hours until Sasuke left her to eat dinner at Ichiraku's ramen stand. Unfortunately, Sakura just followed him. She was still determined to find out why Sasuke didn't want to talk about his family. Since begging didn't work, she decided to use her womanly charms (I can't believe I just wrote that).

"Oh Sasuke-kun…" Sasuke turned around and found that Sakura had put on her cute face and was batting her eyelashes furiously. "Won't you please tell me?" She leaned in closer and ran her hands across his chest.

"That's not going to work on me," Sasuke said emotionlessly, but Sakura was determined.

"Come on Sasuke, tell me. You know you want to," she whispered in his ear. Her voice was soft and seductive. She was certain it would work until Ayame walked in on them.

"Wow Sakura, talk about making a move," she said raising an eyebrow. Sakura blushed and leaned away from Sasuke. They both ordered and ate their ramen without speaking.

After they left, Sakura resumed begging. "Why won't tell me Sasuke?" she demanded angrily.

"Hn."

"You-are-the-most-frustrating-boy-I have ever met!" she screamed.

Sasuke smirked making her even angrier. Eventually, she gave up and began to pout. "You really piss me off Sasuke. You are the most conceited, arrogant, and moody idiot I've ever met."

Sasuke couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her pout. "I think I'm going insane. She actually looks kind of cute now that she's not worshipping me," he thought. "Wait, did I just think she was cute!?"

"Are you staring at me?"

Sakura's question snapped Sasuke back to reality. "What?" Sasuke had a blank expression on his face.

Sakura crossed her arms. "Were you staring at my chest you pervert?"

"NO! Who do you think I am?"

"I don't know. I'm the one with no memory remember? Or have you lost that too?"

"You can't imagine how much I hate you right now." Sasuke emitted killing intent that completely forced Sakura back a few steps. "You're going to kill me now, aren't you?" Sakura looked at him fearfully.

"You have no idea." Sakura turned and ran before Sasuke could get her. Sasuke ran after her, starting a chase that would last several hours.

* * *

We finally know who Abrame was and why a _Sachiki_ family heirloom worked so for Naruto. Please read and review! 

Honestly, I'm no much of a Sasuke-Sakura fan, but you have to remember she's not the same fan-girl Sakura. I'm just experimenting here. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	9. Growing Closer

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: Well, school will be starting soon. And with all the honor classes I'm taking, I'm afraid that updating could become slow.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

* * *

Chapter 9: Growing Closer

The next morning, Naruto awoke to the sound of the alarm clock. "Ugh, shut up!" he said slamming his hand on the snooze button. He repeated this twenty times, before finally giving in the alarm's persistent beeping. He slowly rose from the bed and pulled off his pajamas. Grabbing a pair of charcoal black, gray pants and a light jacket with a dark blue undershirt, he started to get dressed when he saw the clock.

"10 O' CLOCK! I was supposed to meet Hinata at the training grounds an hour ago!" Naruto haphazardly pulled his clothes on, strapped his weapons pouch to his right thigh and; subconsciously, fastened his sword onto his back. He immediately left without having breakfast and rushed for the training grounds. Weaving through the crowds of people, he avoided all of them until he abruptly ran into Sakura.

They crashed into each other, and both of them fell back. Naruto opened his eyes, and seeing Sakura, helped her. "So did you have fun with Sasuke last night?"

"Who are you?" Sakura asked, clueless.

"I'm Naruto, your other teammate. Just like Sasuke. I've known you since I joined the academy around two years ago. So did you have fun with Sasuke last night?" Naruto asked again.

"Of course I did, but not like that," she answered seeing the look on Naruto's face.

"I never thought I would see you not worshipping Sasuke. I know you don't remember, but it's really a weird experience."

"I really don't understand what I saw in Sasuke," Sakura shrugged. "He's sort of attractive but he has no emotion. And that smirk of his really ticks me off."

"Sounds about right," Naruto laughed. "Well I got to go. I'm already late."

"For what?"

"A training session with Hinata. I was supposed to meet her an hour ago. I think Kakashi-sensei is beginning to rub off on me." He waved goodbye and ran off quickly. Little did he know that Sakura had decided to take a look at this "Hinata person".

By the time he had reached the training grounds, he found Hinata curled up and asleep on the ground. "Wow, am I really that late?"

Reluctant to wake her, but eager to start their training, he sat down and gently shook her. When she didn't wake up, Naruto shook her harder, but that didn't work either. "Hey Hinata, you can wake now. I'm here." But she just rolled over and continued sleeping.

"She really is kind of cute when she's asleep," Naruto thought. He leaned in to get a closer look, but right then, a shuriken flew out of nowhere and slightly scraped Hinata's left shoulder. She woke with a start from the prick and found Naruto's face, two inches away from her's.

Both Naruto and Hinata blushed and jumped back quickly. Nearby, in a bush, a giggling Sakura was trying to stop herself from bursting with laughter.

There was an awkward silence as both of them didn't know what to say, but eventually Hinata spoke. "Ummm…I-I think w-we should g-get started," she suggested timidly.

Naruto agreed and the both of them began to spar. They fought in only normal Taijutsu for hours, and Naruto noticed that Hinata was holding back. He signaled for a break.

Hinata could tell he was disappointed. "Hinata, why are you holding back?"

She put her index fingers together and started gently pushing on them. "It's just that…well…I don't…."

"You don't want to hurt me?" he finished.

She nodded. "Well, I don't think we need to worry about that. I doubt you could touch me anyway," Naruto added teasingly.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that, I doubt you could lay a single strike on me, even with you Byakugan," Naruto said airily.

"Would you like to make a bet on that?"

"Of course. How about…the loser owes the winner one favor?"

"You've got yourself a deal. Now prepare to lose." Hinata dropped into her Jukken stance and activated her Byakugan.

"Bring it on Hinata." Naruto went into his own Taijutsu stance.

* * *

Several hours later, both Naruto and Hinata were panting heavily from exhaustion, minor injuries, and hours of training. "Are you ready to give up Naruto-kun?" 

"No way! That favor's going to be mine!" Naruto charged Hinata and pulled out eight kunai.

"I wouldn't count on it." Hinata dodged the first two kunai, deflected the next three with her and hands, and caught the sixth. She blocked Naruto's attack and Jukkened him in the chest. The clone immediately exploded with a force that blasted Hinata off her feet.

Naruto was already behind before she even hit the ground. "I know you can do better than that," he whispered in her ear before disappearing.

Hinata stood there and waited. She heard movement, whirled around, and landed a Jukken strike right on Naruto heart. Naruto instantly crumpled to the ground. He looked up. "It looks like I owe you a favor," he said smiling. However, the smile on Hinata's face couldn't help but give him an ominous shudder of fear.

After Naruto's defeat, Hinata left to go home and Naruto kept saying that he would have won if his sword weren't broken.

"If it's broken, then why do you still wear it Naruto-kun?"

"I don't know…it's just a habit, after so many years…now that Abrame's gone…" Naruto trailed off.

"I know what it's like to lose a loved one Naruto. I understand that you don't want to part with the sword because it's the only thing you have to remember him by." Hinata expression was sympathetic, as Naruto face grew saddened. Naruto quickly pulled himself together as both of them finished up their training session.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning then," Naruto said as they waved goodbye.

Hinata waved back and headed for the Hyuuga compound, but was met by Sakura. "Even though I can't remember either of you, I don't need my memory to figure out that something's going on between you two," she said with a wink.

"N-no, w-we're j-just-," Hinata began with a blush.

"Don't give me that. It's obvious that you two are more than that. So tell me, have ever thought about-…" Sakura whispered something in her ear, which made her blush furiously.

"No! Of course not!" she said while shaking her head.

"You two would look really cute together," Sakura thought aloud, which made Hinata blush harder.

"What about you and Sasuke? How are things between you two?" Hinata asked her, desperate to change the subject.

"I really don't know what I saw in him. He's sort of cute, but he's always so smug and acts withdrawn. It pisses me off sometimes."

"You can't really blame him for being withdrawn, after what happened to his clan."

"Why, what happened?" Sakura asked curiously. Hinata realized that she had forgotten.

"Sasuke's own brother murdered the entire clan. They're the only two left," Hinata explained. "I'm sure Sasuke would like to rebuild the clan, but he might need some help."

For a moment, Sakura just stared, her mind not registering what Hinata said. But suddenly, it became clear and Sakura blushed too. "I would never think of Sasuke like that," she said defiantly.

Ino, who had been walking past, popped into their conversation. "Sasuke? Where?" she asked quickly, looking around.

Both Hinata and Sakura laughed. "No, we just talking about Sasuke's…undesirable qualities," Hinata told Ino.

"What undesirable qualities? Sasuke's perfect! And if you had your memory back Sakura, you would think so too!"

"I mean, those raven locks are so gorgeous, and that steely look in his eyes. And his body is so muscular, it just makes me melt," she continued with a happy glint in her eyes.

"Wow, you have some obssesion problems," said Sakura staring at her.

"How could I not? Sasuke's just so sexy and dreamy. "I can't believe you have'nt already gotten your crush on him back."

"It feels like the better I get to know Sasuke, the less I believe that I had a crush on him," Sakura said uncomfortably.

"If only the old you could hear you now," Ino sighed.

* * *

Later that day, Sakura found Sasuke at Ichiraku's once again. She felt some for Sasuke after what happened to his family. "Is this all you ever eat," she asked him. 

"Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?"

"No. Besides, annoying you has become one of my favorite hobbies," Sakura said grinning.

"Why don't you do one of your other hobbies?" Sasuke argued.

"Well, this is my favorite. My second favorite would have to be following you around," she chuckled.

"I don't even want know your third," Sasuke said rolling his eyes. His ramen arrived and he started to eat. "I almost miss the old Sakura," he thought.

"So, what's the plan for today?"

Sasuke immediately choked on his ramen. "What?"

"You heard me. What are we going to do today?" she repeated enthusiastically.

"First I'm going to finish my ramen without dying."

"Oh wow, that's a surprise," Sakura said sarcastically. "And then?"

"I don't know. I was trying to avoid you for today," Sasuke said exasperated.

"That's a really nice thing to say Sasuke. You can be a real jerk sometimes. I really don't understand how almost every girl in this village is after you." She shook head slowly in confusion.

"Really? I was under the impression that it was the _entire_ female population of the village," he said cockily.

"What do they see in you?" she shouted in frustration. "I met Ino this morning, and she talked about was you. Saying how perfect you were in every sense of the word."

"I mean, I don't give a damn how handsome you are with your raven hair, steely onyx eyes, and muscular body. You're still a moronic jerk with no respect for anyone else!"

"Are _you_ saying I'm handsome?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

Sakura realized what she said and lightly blushed. "N-no, I meant-."

"I think you're starting get back some of your memories," he said chuckling.

"Haha, very funny. Wait a second. Did you just laugh?"

"Does it matter if I did?"

"Oh my god, I made Sasuke Uchiha laugh," Sakura said excitedly. "Wait, that is your last name right?"

Sasuke sweat dropped. After he finished his ramen, once again Sakura asked, "So, what're we going to do now?"

"How about I walk you home so you can stop annoying me?" Sasuke suggested promptly after buying a drink at a local food stand.

"You're offering to walk me home?" Sakura asked skeptically.

"Just so I can get you off my hands," he added quickly.

"Whatever you say Sasuke-_kun_," she said with emphasis.

Sasuke's eye began to twitch rapidly. "One of these days, I'm going to kill you!"

"You're even worse than Naruto with his loud shouting," he sighed and took a large gulp from his drink.

"Awwwwwwwww, but you're just saying that because you _love _us," she said mockingly. Instantly, Sasuke choked and spit out most of liquid in his mouth.

Sakura rolled on ground, roaring with laughter. "AHAHA HA, you-are-hilarious!" Sasuke drained the rest of his drink and tried to avoid looking at her as people on streets began to stare.

Eventually, she calmed down and they reached her house. "Alright, here's your house. Can I leave now?"

"Don't you want to stay? Maybe I can join your fan club?" she asked mockingly.

Sasuke rubbed his temples. "I think I have a few kunai left. Maybe if used one right now…" he thought. Pushing all homicidal thoughts from his mind, he opened the door and tried to push her in.

"But Sasuke-kun, I wanted to spend some more time with you," she pouted ironically. She saw some of Sasuke's fan girls walk by and decided to seize the opportunity. She clamped onto Sasuke's arm and put on a flirtatious face.

"Sasuke-kun, don't you want to spend the night with me. We can share a bed," she said in a soft stage whisper. Leaning in closer to his face, she restrained herself from laughing once she saw Sasuke's face. He was frozen in disbelief, and the fan girls that had heard her look mortified.

The group of them stomped off talking angrily among themselves. "Oh my gosh he is so hot!"

"I can't believe this!"

"She's so lucky!"

"How could he choose _her_!"

The fan girls were soon too far away to be heard. Sasuke recovered quickly and pushed her away. "Sakura, you did that just to piss everyone off didn't you?"

"Yep," she exclaimed happily.

"But mainly to tick me off right?"

"Of course."

"Afraid of a little competition from the other girls?"

"Yep…wait," she blushed realizing what she said.

"Looks like the old Sakura isn't buried too deep after all," he smirked.

Sakura blushed and went inside. But she couldn't resist a final shot at Sasuke. "I'll see you tomorrow Sasuke-_kun_," she said before closing the door. Sasuke just sighed and left for his home, muttering something about suicide.

* * *

For days, Hinata tried to decide what she wanted Naruto to do for her. Sakura occasionally dropped by suggesting more…interesting things, which always made her blush. 

Naruto was also anxious. Ever since Hinata had won, he kept wondering what she would make him do. He constantly asked her during their training sessions.

"Hey Hinata, have decided what you want from me yet?" Naruto asked for the one-millionth time.

"I'm not sure."

"Oh come on Hinata. You've been saying that for days. There has to be something you want to do for you. Why not go with one of Sakura's suggestions. I've heard all about them," he said with playful wink.

"Besides, if you don't want anything, you can just tell me."

"Oh, y-you've h-heard a-about those? It's not like I don't want anything, I just don't want to waste my favor from Naruto-kun," she said with a faint blush.

The answer completely caught Naruto off guard. "If I had won the favor, I'm sure I would feel the same way," he smiled.

* * *

Both of them continued their training schedule for weeks. Hinata would have forgotten about the favor if Naruto didn't keep asking her. With their constant training, they advanced each other's techniques. 

When Naruto wasn't training with Hinata, he spent it in the library. "Since I never knew Abrame, I want to at least know my father," he thought. He studied everything about the Yondamie. Naruto studied his childhood, his life as a shinobi, his rise to Hokage and his battle with Kyuubi. Naruto even tried his best to learn his father's techniques and skills. Everything he learned in the library, he practiced with Hinata.

Hinata was also on her way to developing her own techniques. Learning from her father that "predictability kills shinobi", Hinata decided that she would not learn the traditional techniques of the Hyuuga clan. Instead, she would develop her own skills, which she often practiced on Naruto.

Today's session was especially intense. Hinata had begun to develop a technique she named Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms). Naruto had started to train his speed ever since he read that before his father had become Hokage, he had been known as the "Konoha's Yellow Flash".

Through hours of guess work and using scrolls on shunshin he had borrowed from the library, he tried to replicate his father's Hirashin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique). Naruto was sure that the jutsu would be in the Scroll of Forbidden Seals, but he had no idea how he would be able access it.

Hinata fell into Jukken stance, while Naruto, for some reason sat down. "Getting cocky Naruto-kun?"

"No, but I'm going to win this time," Naruto smirked.

"If you've been keeping track Naruto, our win-lose records are even, not counting our first one. I'm still ahead." Hinata had taken on a playful quality lately during their training sessions.

"Not for long." Naruto showered eight kunai at Hinata. She dodged them and saw the exploding tags. Hinata barely avoided the explosion but Jukkening the ground. She saw Naruto still on the ground, and threw three shuriken at him.

He promptly caught them on his fingers. "Oh please Hinata, is that it?"

Naruto formed a seal, but nothing happened. "Crap, I still haven't perfected it yet. It doesn't work!" he thought in frustration.

"That again Naruto? It's not going to work. You're trying to replicate an S-rank jutsu through complete guesswork. It's never going to work," she said teasingly.

"Then why don't you show me how your new technique's coming along."

"Gladly." With the familiar cry of "Byakugan!" Hinata slowly fell into a stance that Naruto wasn't recognizable to Naruto. She took slow, relaxed breaths and there was blurring of motion.

Hinata's hands moved almost faster than his eyes could follow. Naruto could see streams of chakra emitting from her hands. "What do you think Naruto-kun?" she said with a grin.

Naruto was amazed. "Streams of chakra moving at such an amazing speed! She's created a sphere of slicing chakra!" he thought.

All he could say was, "Wow…"

Hinata smiled.

* * *

Wow, it took a long time to type this chapter. I kept changing my mind on what to type. I hope you liked it. Please read and review! 


	10. The Exams Begin

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: Well, I managed to squeeze one last chapter before school started.

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah…no!

* * *

Chapter 10: The Exams Begin

The day began like any other. Naruto and Hinata both met at the Training Grounds, and Sakura followed Sasuke around to piss him off.

But before any of them could begin their normal routines, they were quickly interrupted by messenger birds.

One bird landed next to Naruto and began to shake its leg at him, clearing saying to take the piece off paper strapped to it. He walked over to the bird and pulled off the paper. He read it quickly and Hinata saw a look of amusement cross his face.

"What is it Naruto-kun?"

"Apparently, Kakashi wants us to participate in this year's Chunin exams. All nine of us will be in the exams along with a class from last year. There will also be many shinobi from other villages as well."

"Perfect!" Hinata said enthusiastically. "I can test my new technique against other people."

"Great, I still haven't figured out my technique yet," Naruto sighed under his breath. "Sorry about today's session Hinata. I guess we'll have to continue some other time."

"I'm sure you'll get it sometime. Come on, we have to go." Hinata deactivated her Byakugan as both of them dashed off.

* * *

At the same time, Sasuke and Sakura received the same notice. 

"The Chunin Exams?" Sasuke said incredulously.

"Now you can prove to us whether you're really as good as everyone says you are," Sakura teased.

"Shut up!"

"Does that mean you've been bluffing this whole time?" she asked.

"Can't you just leave me alone for one day! You follow me around even more than my fan girls!" he shouted angrily.

"That's because I got rid of them for you, remember?" she said with a giggle. She was referring to the incident that happened a few nights ago.

Sasuke coughed as he remembered what Sakura had done. "Forget it. The note says that all twelve of this year's Genin must report to the rooftop of the academy. Let's go!" He left before Sakura could slip in a remark.

* * *

When all four of them arrived at the rooftop, they noticed that they were the last ones to arrive. They also noticed that Kakashi was late again. 

"I don't believe this! He calls us here and he's still late!" Naruto fumed.

"Why? Does he do this often?" Sakura wondered.

"All the time."

Naruto knew everyone in the Rookie Nine, but there were three ninja he wasn't familiar with. "Hey Hinata, that guys eyes look a lot like yours," Naruto said pointing to someone.

"That's my cousin Neji. Although he is in the branch house, my father and Hyuuga council treats him with much respect. He is considered to have inherited the strongest bloodline in centuries," Hinata explained. "However, he has a hatred for the main house due to the main house's actions in the past."

Before Naruto could ask what happened, Sarutobi arrived and the Jonin shushed them.

"Welcome, all of you," Sarutobi said in a booming voice. You're teachers have chosen you to participate in this year's Chunin exams. The exams will be dangerous and a test of your ninja abilities. If anyone wishes to leave, now would be the time to speak."

There was complete silence as no one spoke. "Great! The first exam will take place tomorrow morning at 10 A.M. in classroom A-3. Anyone who is late will be locked out. You are dismissed."

Sarutobi and all the Jonin disappeared in a flash. However, right after they vanished, Kakashi came in a poof of smoke. "Am I late?"

"No, really?" Sakura said sarcastically. "All the Jonin just left. You really have punctuation issues."

"Well, it looks like there's nothing left more me to do. I'll be going now." He pulled out a book, Icha Icha Paradise, and disappeared.

"Now what?" Sasuke said dully as some of the other Genin began to leave.

"I guess we can go back to training then," Naruto said happily but his happiness quickly diminished as he saw Neji shoot a look at him.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, my father asked me for something," Hinata sighed. "We'll have to start again after the exams."

"I guess you can't disobey your father," he thought sadly.

"Yay!" Sakura yelled joyfully. "I can go back to annoying Sasuke!"

Sasuke let out a groan of dread. "Naruto, please help me and get Sakura away from me," he whispered. "She's driving me insane!"

"Nah, I don't want to disrupt the bonding between you two," he grinned.

"You dobe! I'm going to mur-," but he was cut off by Sakura.

"He's right Sasuke-_kun_. We were just getting to know each other," she said in a fan girlish voice as she grabbed his arm.

As Sasuke shook her off as Naruto got an evil thought. "AHA! Hinata and I just knew you two were getting it on. So how far have you gotten?"

"NO! I-It's not like that!" Sasuke said quickly.

"Sure…" Naruto had an undeniably smug expression.

"Why don't you tell us about you and Hinata?" Sakura said trying to change the subject.

"We're just friends. And don't try to change the subject!"

"Not until we get some answers," Sakura demanded.

"It doesn't matter. Her father would probably murder both of us if I tried anything," Naruto said casually glancing at Neji. "I always have this feeling that we're being watched when Hinata and I train. I suspect Hiashi's sent someone to tail us."

"Wow, forbidden love. That's so romantic," Sakura said dreamily.

"Hn. Women. Always with the dreams of romance," said Sasuke dismissively.

Sakura smacked him across the head. "You are probably the most insensitive jerk I've ever known! And that includes everyone I've forgotten too!" she shouted.

"Does it matter? I don't need love."

"I thought you wanted to restore your clan. If you don't…ummmm…get it on with someone, then where's your clan going to come from?" Naruto told him.

"Maybe they'll be drawn to me like Ino."

"You're going to marry a fan girl like Ino?" Sakura said in disgust.

"Well, at least she'll be better than you," he said with a smirk.

"I can't believe you would compare me with that obsessive freak! You make me sick Sasuke Uchiha!" With that, she stormed off in rage.

"Wow, I've never seen her so ticked off," Naruto whistled. "She is furious. You better go comfort her or something."

"Why? She's being a total idiot!" Sasuke shot back.

"Because tomorrow's the Chunin exams, and we aren't acting like a team, we're going to fail!" Naruto argued. "I'm not failing because of your love life issues!"

"I DO NOT HAVE LOVE LIFE ISSUES!!!" Sasuke screamed so loudly that the remaining Genin on the roof looked at him. "If it makes you shut up, then I'll go…_comfort_ her," he added with strain.

Sasuke left and Naruto was left alone on the roof before dashing off himself.

* * *

"Sasuke is such arrogant bastard! Saying that he'll go off and have kids with a fan girl just to restore his clan!" she fumed. "I can't believe that I actually used to have feelings for that moron!" 

"Sakura!" She heard Sasuke's voice and walked even faster. The voice grew even closer as she ran. Sprinting, she jumped into the cover of the crowds as she saw Sasuke draw closer. She ran through markets, restaurants, and ceramic stores to lose him, but Sasuke was unrelenting.

"She's already seen me. I've got to catch up to her," thought Sasuke.

"Crap, he won't leave me alone," Sakura thought desperately. "I got it!"

Sasuke put on a burst of speed and pounced onto Sakura. He pinned her to the ground. "Look I just want to-." But she burst into smoke.

"Substitution!" He activated his Sharingan and looked around. "She has to be somewhere around here," he thought. Instantly, he recognized her chakra signature and saw her five rooftops away.

He jumped onto the roof and moved as quickly and silently as he could. By the time Sakura heard him, he was already two feet behind her. Grabbing her shoulders, he spun Sakura around and was about to say something, when he saw the tears.

"S-Sakura?" Sasuke stuttered.

"Go away!" she said pushing him away, but he walked closer.

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"Look, I didn't mean it when I said Ino would make a better wife."

"Then why did you say it? How could you compare me to her? All she does is obsess over you all the time."

"It's just that, you're really annoying and you tick me off!"

"If you hate me so much, then why do you care?! Why are you here?"

"Because Naruto wanted us to be a team and we would have a better chance of passing the exams if we acted like one," Sasuke said desperately trying to stop her crying.

Unfortunately, it just made Sakura's expression sadder. "You only came here for Naruto! You don't care at all about how I feel! You hate my guts don't you?"

"I don't hate you. It's just that…" he trailed off.

"What? It's just that you hate me?"

"No! I just don't not like you ok?"

"What?" she said thoroughly confused.

"I…I…It's just…" Sasuke tried desperately to convey his thoughts as Sakura stopped crying and started to watch him curiously.

Sasuke stammered through dozens of incomplete thoughts. "Sakura, I-I'm-, well, I…I just…I'm…that-," he continued until Sakura finally cut him off with a fan girlish reaction.

"Oh Sasuke-_kun_, I didn't know you cared for me so much," she said while wrapping her arms around him.

"What is wrong with you?" Sasuke said in shock as a blush appeared on his face. "Get off!"

"But Sasuke, I never want to let go of you ever again," she said laughing.

As Sasuke tried to pull her off him, they both slipped on a roof tile and fell on each other. "Would grabbing onto me and acting like a fan girl count as accepting my apology?" Sasuke said as she opened her eyes.

She smiled smugly. "If apologizing to me can make the great Sasuke Uchiha stutter like an idiot, then I guess it must be sincere."

"That's great to know," said Sasuke sarcastically. "Now can you get off of me?!"

Sakura noticed that she was on top of him with her arms still wrapped around him. "Sorry."

"How about we forget that this ever happened and go get some ramen?" Sasuke suggested.

"Sure, but you're paying," said Sakura with a smile.

"Hn, I expected as much."

* * *

Meanwhile, Hinata was heading back to the Hyuuga Compound at the request of her father. She walked into courtyard and saw her father already waiting for her. "Hinata, there is a matter that I must speak to you about." 

"Yes father," she said trembling.

"I've noticed that you've become much stronger. No doubt due to all the training that you've done during the past few weeks," Hiashi said with a raised eyebrow.

"Father I can explain-."

"Yes, explain to me why every morning you're out with that demon brat! Although I am glad that you are living up to the Hyuuga name, I cannot allow you to fraternize with that monster. What would the Elder Council think if they saw you, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, with him, the Kyuubi container? Do you understand?"

"Yes father," Hinata agreed with a sigh. "It won't happen again."

She slowly walked to her room and sadly wondered how she would tell Naruto.

* * *

There was massive excitement the next day as Genin from various village came to Konoha. Shinobi from the Rain, Grass, Mist, Sand, Cloud, Waterfall, and even a new village, the Sound, all came to participate in the exams. 

Team 7 arrived at the academy by nine o' clock, noticing all the ninja from different villages. As they walked towards the classroom, they heard many of them whisper.

"Is that him, the Kyuubi container?"

"Look, Sasuke Uchiha, the survivor of the massacre."

"It's the demon!"

"I heard that his brother killed the entire clan."

"Both of them are supposed to by prodigies or something."

"Avoid him during the exams, he might kill us."

But one faint voice caught them. "He's the target."

"Target?" all three of them thought in alarm. They looked around for the source of the voice, but the person had already disappeared.

"Keep on your guard," Naruto warned Sasuke and Sakura. "Someone's after one of us." Both of them nodded as they headed for classroom A-3. However, they were immediately met by a very strange looking person. The stranger was wearing green spandex and appeared to have several bandages on his arms. A bowl cut crowned his head. Naruto noticed the boy's heavily dense eyebrows.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I, Rock Lee, challenge you to a fight," the figure in green spandex pointed.

"Oh, Rock Lee. You're one of Neji's teammates. Hinata told me all about you, but she didn't mention your…ummm…hair dome," Naruto said reluctantly, pointing at Lee's hair.

"It is the way Guy-sensei has his hair, and he is the greatest shinobi in Konoha beside the Hokage," said Lee proudly.

"Green spandex?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Guy-sensei's secret to developing Taijutsu. Now Sasuke, I want to fight, right now."

"I don't have time to fight people like you," said Sasuke smugly. "We have to get to the exams." They turned towards the door, but it was instantly blocked by Lee.

"No! I will not leave until I get a fight."

"If you want a fight so bad, why not me bushy-brows," Naruto challenged.

"Awww, but I wanted to see Sasuke-_kun _get his butt handed to him," Sakura pleaded.

"Shut it Sakura!"

"Ahhh, Sakura. Such a beautiful name for a blossoming flower like you," Lee said as he put on his "nice guy" pose. "Please accept this as a token of my love," blowing her a kiss.

Sakura retreated a few steps, completely creeped out. "Sasuke, just fight him so we can leave. He's scaring me."

"Alright then. Let's just get this over with." Without even activating his Sharingan, Sasuke rushed Lee.

Lee dodged a kick, another kick, landed on his hands, spun, and kicked Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke flew into the air and breezed through a few seals. "**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!"

With all his effort, Lee tried to avoid the blast, but the fireball caught him of the leg. "He's just as strong as I expected. Time to use that technique. With blinding speed, vanished, reappeared under Sasuke, and kicked him into the air before either of them could blink.

In the air, Lee appeared of nowhere again and wrapped his arm bandages around Sasuke's waist. Before anything could happen, there was a giant poof of smoke that blew Lee and Sasuke apart.

"LEE! I've told you never to use that technique! How could you?" Another man spoke, but he was clouded by the smoke.

"I'm so sorry Guy-sensei! I'll never do it again!" Lee sobbed as he dashed over to hug the smoky figure.

The haze cleared and Team 7 was shocked at what they saw. This "Guy-sensei" was also wearing a green spandex suit. He had a bowl cut, and his eyebrows were even thicker than Lee's.

"Lee as punishment, I want you go run five hundred laps with me on the track!"

"Yes Guy-sensei!" Lee agreed and they both sped off.

As soon as all three of them recovered from the shock, Sasuke picked himself up. "He was so fast!" he realized.

"It looks like to would've kicked your ass if his sensei didn't jump in at the last second," Sakura pointed out, grinning.

"Be quiet Sakura!" Sasuke roared.

"You two are meant for each other," Naruto teased.

Sasuke glared at him and started to walk away. "Come on, we're running out of time. Let's get to the classroom."

Once he was out of earshot, Naruto murmured to Sakura, "Hey, what's exactly between you two?"

"Nothing!" said Sakura rapidly.

"I'm not buying that. I want the truth, not the junk that I'm getting from Ino. According to her, you and Sasuke supposedly had a make-out session a few days ago and then you invited him back to house to spend the night."

Sakura blushed, which alarmed Naruto. "So it's true!? Holy crap, wait till Hinata hears about this!"

"NO! Naruto that's not true. Besides, Sasuke's too insensitive to even care. He couldn't even finish an apology for me," she remembered with chuckle. "We better get going, or Sasuke will come back and start yelling at us again."

Both of them ran off and met Sasuke at the classroom. All three of them walked in and found dozens of ninja already in the room. Members from all the villages were already there.

Naruto saw a team from Kumogakure that looked particularly strange. Their leader was boy with a hidden weapon strapped on his back. He couldn't tell what it was due to the numerous wrappings. The other boy had a maniacal expression and he kept licking his lips as eyes darted throughout the crowd. Then there was a girl. She was relatively short for her age and she just seemed to stare off into space. Even though she didn't look like much of a threat, but something about her was…off.

A team from the Sand particularly interested Sasuke. A boy with Kabuki face paint stood the tallest. He had a large object strapped to his back. Their team also included a blonde girl with a giant fan fastened to her back. The smallest member of their team was a red headed boy carrying a gourd. He shot a look at Sasuke, and could tell from the cold hatred in his eyes, that he lived through murder.

Sakura herself saw three members from the Rain. Two of them carried no weapons whatsoever, not even a kunai pouch. Coincidentally, they were also twins. The third person; however, emanated a strange aura.

The entire room seemed to be silent as killing intent was hatred mixed. However, a scream soon split the monotone.

"Sasuke-kun! I didn't know you were already here!" Ino yelled as she glomped onto him.

"Get off me Ino!" but Sasuke knew it was pointless.

"Hey Naruto, I haven't seen you in a while." Naruto turned to see it was Kiba along with Hinata and Shino. Shino gave him a nod of acknowledgement and walked away.

"Hey Hinata! So what did your father want to talk to you about?" Naruto asked her. Her silence and sad face told him it wasn't any good news. Eager to change the subject, he pointed. "Look, there's Chouji and Shikamaru!"

Chouji as usual was munching on a bag of chips. Shikamaru looked bored. "I didn't even want to come to this test, but Asuma made us. How troublesome," he sighed.

"That's your answer to everything," Naruto laughed. Then Neji's team walked in. Besides him and Lee, there was girl dressed in a pink Chinese vest. The three of them took their seats and Neji shot Naruto another look, which he returned.

Just then, "Jeez, what's wrong with you rookies? Jumping and screaming like a bunch of schoolgirls…" a tall boy with glasses muttered.

"And who the hell are you?" Sakura asked indignantly.

"Yakushi Kabuto. I'm an exam veteran. You guys better shut it before those guys from the Hidden Mist get ticked off." But from the look of it, half the room was glaring at the nine Rookies.

"Since you guys all seem like idiots, I'll help some of you out." Kabuto pulled out a stack of white cards. "These are my ninja-info cards. I have information on almost every single participant in this exam."

"What do you know about that red headed boy with the gourd?" Sasuke asked him.

Kabuto seemingly pulled out a card at random and gathered chakra in his fingers. With poof, letters and symbols appeared.

"Sabaku no Gaara; teammates are Temari and Kankuro. An unknown amount of D-rank missions, twelve C-rank, and one B-rank. He came back from all of them without a single scratch."

Shikamaru was impressed and Sasuke was shocked.

"How about Rock Lee?" Sakura said hastily.

"What, want information about your new boyfriend?" Ino wondered suspiciously but Sakura ignored her.

Kabuto pulled out another card. "Rock Lee; teammates are Tenten and Hyuuga Neji. Completed thirty-two D-rank missions, and five C-rank. His Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are zero, but his Taijutsu is almost off the charts."

"Do you know anything about that girl?" Naruto pointed to the girl from Kumogakure.

"Are you cheating on Hinata?" Ino said hastily. Hinata blushed, Naruto answered first. "Goddamn Ino, stop with the gossip!"

Taking out a third card, Kabuto read, "Yugito; teammates are Kaji and Kensuke. No D-rank missions, fifteen C-rank, seven B-rank, and one A-rank. Not much is known about her, but is supposedly incredibly strong."

"The Mist, Grass, Rain, Cloud, Waterfall, and Sand. All of them powerful villages that have come to compete in this year's Chunin Exams. The only exception would be the newly formed Hidden Sound Village. I doubt they even have enough shinobi to be considered a village."

At that moment, the three members of the sound quickly attacked Kabuto. One of them, who was dressed like a mummy, almost struck Kabuto in the stomach. Barely avoiding the attack, Kabuto suddenly doubled over in pain and fell on his knees, coughing blood.

Sasuke had seen the whole thing through his Sharingan. "The Sound will be tricky," he thought.

The doors of the waiting room abruptly slammed open. "Alright you worthless maggots! I am Morino Ibiki and I will be your first examiner!"

Noticing Kabuto on the ground, he exploded in rage. "Damn it, what happened to him?"

The mummy raised his hand. "Sorry Ibiki-san. I won't do it again."

With a look of contempt, he dismissed it with a wave. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again! Now follow me!"

* * *

I hope you liked it! I have a twist coming later if you haven't already seen it! Please Read and Review! 

P.S. I want you guys to vote whether Sasuke stays in Konoha or goes over to Orochimaru's side. The poll will end on September 16. Please vote; otherwise, I won't be able to continue the story.


	11. Orochimaru

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: I feel really bad considering that I haven't written in so freakin long. I doubt anyone is still reading this, but I had to continue for my own sake. I hope you like it if you're actually still reading, so please read and review! :

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (Ok, this is the last the time I'm going to write this on this fanfic.) Believe it! Lol

* * *

Chapter 11: Orochimaru

The Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and all the shinobi from the other villages followed Ibiki into an enormous classroom. As everyone chose a seat, Ibiki explained the test.

"The first exam is a written test, designed to test your knowledge of the shinobi ways," Ibiki announced. This test is probably different from other tests you have taken."

"Every person starts with one hundred percent. On this test, there will be ten questions. For every question you don't answer or answer wrong, two points will be deducted. If you fail the test, so does your team." There was slight gasp of shock as every one heard this.

"In case any of you cheat, there are proctors on the side watching you. For every incident you are caught cheating, two points will also be deducted. If you are caught cheating five times, you and your team will be thrown from the exams."

"But Ibiki-sensei," Sakura interrupted. "There are only nine questions on this test."

With an evil knowing smile, he answered. "The tenth and final question will be given by me in the last fifteen minutes of the test. You may all begin…NOW!"

There was a flutter of noise as everyone picked up their pencils and began read the questions. However, there was very little sound of pencils grinding against paper. Everyone was completely stumped on how to answer the questions.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had been separated during the seating and each of them was wondering the same thing. "These questions are way beyond Genin level. How are we going to pass?"

Suddenly, a shout split the silence. "Team 32, you are disqualified!" a proctor yelled. Following him was another proctor. "Team 56, disqualified!" Every few minutes, a proctor would cry out and disqualify a team. After a while, the number of teams that cheated began to dwindle.

"So many people have already been caught cheating. I can't bring myself to do it. These questions…they're impossible to answer. I'm so tempted to…but I can't let Sasuke and Sakura down," Naruto thought desperately.

Sasuke was also thinking along the same lines, but he had already figured it all out. "The difficult questions…only two points deducted every your caught cheating…It all makes sense! They want us to cheat!" With that knowledge, he activated his Sharingan. Noticing that a boy two seats away was scribbling furiously on his paper, Sasuke began to copy his movements on his own paper.

* * *

All over the classroom, Genin came to this realization. Both Neji and Hinata activated their Byakugan and looked through the people in front of them to see their papers. Gaara created some sort of eye out of sand, which he used to see other's papers. Tenten used a system of mirrors to copy answers and communicate with Lee. Shino was using his bugs to observe papers; Shikamaru was easily answering the questions with no need to cheat, while Kiba was using Akamaru.

The team from the Rain that Sakura had seen earlier was using unusual methods to cheat. The twins were both in the same trance and once they awoke, their faces lit up in comprehension and they began to write feverishly.

Once Naruto realized he had to cheat, he decided to use this opportunity as a chance to test a new technique he learned from a library scroll. Taking out a senbon, he slapped on a seal, and quickly threw it into the ceiling. Channeling his chakra into the senbon from a chakra string, he began to extend several chakra strings from the senbon downward. The strings silently attached onto other people's papers. With a connection established, he formed a hand seal and created exact shadow clones of their papers. "I hit the jackpot with these guys," Naruto thought happily.

After he finished writing down his answers, Naruto noticed that there were several almost transparent fireballs floating throughout the classroom.

To help Sakura, Naruto attached chakra strings onto Sakura, and began to move her arms, writing down the answers for her. It didn't take too long, and the other teams were beginning to finish as well.

Several minutes passed as Naruto waited for the tenth question. The second the clock struck 10:45, Ibiki stood up and began his announcement.

"Before I give the tenth question, there are a few special rules I must tell you. First being, whether or not you want to take the tenth question."

There were many murmurs of confusion at this. "What if we don't want to take the question?" Gaara's teammate, Kankuro asked.

"Then you fail the exam, and you will have to try again next year."

"Give us the question then!" some of the Genin shouted.

"If you choose to take the question, and answer it incorrectly, then you will be barred from the Chunin exams for the rest of your life," Ibiki said darkly.

Gasps of shock and outrage rang throughout the crowd, Ibiki looked expressionless.

"If you wish to leave, then do so, and you will have another chance next year. If not, then try your luck and face the consequences."

One boy stood up. "I'm sorry. I just can't do this," he apologized to his team. A proctor summarily disqualified them. "Team 14, disqualified!"

Several other teams began to follow his lead. Soon, the number of competitors diminished down until only 30 teams remained.

"Is that everyone who wants to leave?" Ibiki called out. "Alright then, the rest of you…congratulations on passing!"

A chorus of "What?" spread throughout the remaining teams. It was Lee who finally jumped out and spoke. "What do you mean we pass? What's the tenth question?"

"There never was a tenth question. This test was meant to test all of you on two very important aspects of Chunin responsibility. The first, as many of you found out, was to test a ninja's information gathering skills. In a mission, information can mean the difference between life and death."

"I guess the decision to stay or leave the real tenth question. During missions, a Chunin must never hesitate when it comes to a difficult choice. Those who waver and falter aren't worthy to become Chunin."

"Congratulations to all of you! The first exam is officially over! I wish all of you luck in the exams!"

Everyone heard a faint buzzing slowly draw closer. Suddenly, a window smashed open and two kunai flew in and pinned an enormous black cloth to the ceiling. All of the students became wide-eyed as they saw a figure fly into the room as well. The figure began to speak in a loud demanding voice.

"I'm Mitarashi Anko and I'll be your second examiner for the Chunin exams!" She looked around the crowd and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Ibiki! You left way too many! 30 teams?"

"Well, I'm surprised too. It looks like there were a lot of good ones this year," Ibiki shrugged.

Anko composed herself and gave the crowd a disarming smile. "It doesn't matter. By the time I'm done with them, I'll cut them down to a fourth!"

"This instructor's a little too enthusiastic, don't you think?" Naruto whispered to Hinata, which made her giggle. Anko shot them a look that could make milk curdle. Ignoring them, she told everyone to meet her tomorrow at the 44th training area for information about the second exam.

* * *

Dawn came, as the second part of the Chunin exam was about to begin. Once all the Genin had gathered around the assigned meeting area, Anko decided it was time to begin.

"Welcome, all of you, to the 44th training area, otherwise known as the 'Forest of Death'!" All gust of wind passed through the area dramatically, but the mood was ruined as several whispers the spread through the crowd.

"Wow, that's pretty lame."

"You would think they would come up with a better name."

"How about the Twilight Zone?" Someone suggested.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Anko shouted impatiently, which immediately silenced everyone.

Taking several deep breathes; Anko calmed down and began to explain the rules for the second exam. "Each team will start at a different gate. There is a tower at the center of the training ground and each team must reach the tower to pass the exam. However, there is a twist. At the beginning, every team will be given a scroll, either Heaven or Earth. To pass the exam, your team must have both scrolls by the time you reach the tower."

"In other words, we want you to fight each other," Anko added with a malicious grin. "I have to warn you, besides other teams, there are hundreds of traps and dangerous animals in the forest. I have only one piece of advice to all of you…JUST DON'T DIE!"

An alarm sounded as the gates opened and all the Genin sped forth towards the tower.

Many teams were immediately attacked two minutes after entering the gates. In the rush, the total number of teams was cut down to a half as many teams assaulted quickly and efficiently.

Many of the Rookie Nine were victims of this rush tactic; however, they managed to win and move on. Strangely, Team 7 was the only team of the Rookie Nine not to be attacked.

As they sped along the treetops, Sasuke activated his Sharingan for better visibility. They traveled for almost an hour without running into any trouble. The group landed in a small clearing to rest and saw the bodies of a team from the Grass. "They must've been ambushed," Sakura sighed. "I wonder what scroll they have."

"This place is starting to creep me out…" Naruto mumbled. Sasuke bent over and picked up the scroll. "Awesome! It's a Heaven scroll. Just then, they saw a giant centipede-like thing. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Naruto screamed. The three of them ran off, all thinking the same thing, "We have to get out of this damn forest!" None of them saw the three shadows tailing them.

After they had gained the scroll that they needed, they hurried to get to the tower. They stopped to take a few breaths, and were almost immediately attacked. An enormous flood of water rushed straight at them and solidified forming a giant ice spike. Sasuke and Sakura leapt out of the way, but Naruto was completely impaled.

Naruto exploded, blasting apart the spike as fragments slashed all the three of them. He shrugged off the wound and jumped in front of them, "I never travel in enemy territory without preparing a clone to substitute with," he grinned.

The water split and reformed. Team 7 was shocked to see the water transform into the two twins Sakura had seen earlier. They were both bleeding profusely as they spoke in perfect unison, "We have come for the scroll. Surrender and we will see to it that you will die quickly."

"I would love to see you try," Sasuke smirked as he landed next to Naruto. He activated his Sharingan as Naruto began to form some seals.

At that moment, a dark whisper echoed across their ears, "How dare you touch the boy!" A third person jumped into the fight. At the sight of him, the twins immediately bowed down, "Master Orochimaru, we humbly beg for forgiveness. We did not mean to harm him."

"I will punish the two of you later. You are dismissed." The twins sped off as the mysterious figure turned towards them.

"I was looking forward to meeting you," the voice hissed.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked as he approached the man cautiously.

"Sasuke Uchiha, what a pleasant surprise," the man grinned maliciously.

"Orochimaru!" Naruto whispered urgently. "So this is Kisaki's great master. He doesn't look like much to me. Looks more like a pedophile than one of the legendary sannin."

"Yeah, it looks like he's going to rape one of us any second," Sakura answered.

"Silence!" Orochimaru roared. "Kisaki may be my apprentice, but he has begun to bore me. I now seek something far more difficult to obtain."

Before the three Genin could ask what that object was, sudden movements drew their attention elsewhere. A shinobi team from the Grass village had tried to ambush them at that moment. In an instant, all three of them were incapacitated. Two of them lay dead in the mouths of two enormous snakes and the third had been run through by Orochimaru's bare hands.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura watched in horror as Orochimaru pulled a bloody hand from the boy's chest. "Kukukuku, from the look on your faces, it seems that you've never witnessed a kill before. Perhaps I you should take a closer look!" In a quick motion, dozens of snakes shot out of his sleeves, each one with enormous fangs. They tried to run, tried to dodge, tried anything to escape, but they were just too many. Sakura was caught in a coil of snakes, Naruto was swallowed by an enormous python, and Sasuke was left alone, being the only one who escaped by blasting them with fireballs.

"Very impressive Sasuke! The rumors are true then, you are quite a prodigy."

"Let my friends GO! What do you want with us?" Sasuke roared in fury.

"Kukukuku, I don't want anything from them. What I want is your scroll." The man licked his lips. "And perhaps a taste of your power," he chuckled under his breath.

"Have a taste of this!" Naruto screamed as he rushed Orochimaru with 5 clones, all with kunai drawn.

With flick of his arm, three giant snakes burst through the foliage crushing all the clones with their fangs and swallowing Naruto as well. Enormous explosions rang out, echoing across the forest and tearing the snakes to shreds.

Far away, the sounds of the explosion could be heard by Hinata's team. "What was that?" Kiba wondered aloud.

"I hope Naruto is okay," Hinata considered worriedly.

"Let's keep moving," Shino suggested. "We don't want to be caught in the open as sitting ducks."

"Right!" the other two agreed as the three of them sped off without noticing the three ninja closely following them.

Meanwhile, Team 7 still had their hands full with Orochimaru. Now that Naruto had destroyed the snakes, Sasuke decided to move in for the attack. In a rush, he threw a spray of kunai and shuriken, all of which struck their marks.

Each had struck the Mud Clones that had tried to flank the three of them. "Kukukuku, very clever Sasuke. I see that you don't miss anything that goes on around you. Especially with the help of you Sharingan!"

"How can he know so much about me? This guy…how is he so strong?" He can counter even the strongest of my attacks with simple ease. How can that be?"

"You don't have time to think in battle! MOVE OR DIE SASUKE!" Naruto screamed as Orochimaru tore across the gap between. He flashed past the trees, ripping the grass as hundreds of small snakes shot from the ground and his body. His mouth slowly opened to reveal a snake shoot out of his throat.

"Goddamn, not only is he strong, but he's starting to gross me out" Sakura thought with a shudder. She had been setting a trap during their fight and she was ready whenever Naruto and Sasuke were. There only one little snag.

The hundreds of snakes shot everywhere, weaving around Orochimaru and preventing the Genin from getting a clear shot at him. They were all in position and if they didn't spring the trap soon, then the timing would be too late. They knew they had no choice, so they went forward with it.

The results were disastrous.

Sakura jammed her palms to the floor and performed a jutsu quite similar to Shishienjin (Four Man Purple Flame Array) but it was much smaller and blue instead of purple. Orochimaru was trapped, but he wasn't going without a fight. The snakes wove around him again and again, forming a think cocoon. And of course cleverly placed inside this "barrier were kunai knives, each sealed with a different chakra insignia. These seals immediately activated, releasing a combination of poison gas, explosives, icicle spikes, and burning infernos into the small prison chamber. Only seconds afterwards, Sakura released the barrier as Naruto and Sasuke charged in, both raining down upon Orochimaru with fireballs.

In a blur, the snake with glowing sword in its mouth shot forward, piercing Sasuke through the arm and slicing across Naruto's chest. In the confusion, Orochimaru swung the blade with his mouth, tearing through Sasuke and Naruto once again and landing into Sakura's flesh. All three were bleeding horribly as Orochimaru rose.

"Hmmmmmmm," he licked his lips. "What am I going to do with you? Kukukukukuku, did you three really think about pathetic ambush would defeat me?" he mocked as the snake slid back into his throat. "Truly disappointing. I expected much more, especially from you Sasuke. You are no long of any use to me." The snake shot out once again, speeding towards Sasuke's throat. But it never reached it.

With amazing speed, Sakura leapt in front of the sword, trying to take the stab. Yet, she was pushed aside as Naruto lunged and grabbed the sword by its blade. His hands bled profusely, but he held on.

"I'm going to TEAR THIS SWORD OUT YOU'RE THROAT YOU FREAK!" With a yank, the snake vanished into smoke, and the sword came out whole. The effort exhausted him as he fell to the ground, stabbing the blade into the ground for support.

Sasuke saw this as an opportunity and dashed forward, performing seals at almost blinding speeds. At point blank range, "**Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu **(Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu)". The blast completely blew Orochimaru off his feet, sending him flying back several feet. He arose laughing. "Most amusing, you do show some promise Sasuke. Perhaps I should give you a little gift before I leave." His head shot forward, becoming snake-like as fangs were bared. He savagely bit into Sasuke's neck, causing him to cry in pain and fall to his knees, unconscious.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM??" Sakura screamed. The black, glowing mark had begun to form on his neck. However, it took on a dark shape that resembled……the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"I'm only giving him a taste of true power. Very soon, he will learn of the truth behind the Uchiha clan and his true potential. He will seek me not only for power, but for the truth that he has been deprived of."

The Genin thought he was speaking in riddles. But none of them had the strength left to resist him as he slowly walked over to Naruto.

"I admit that I never would have imagined someone would be able to take that from me. But the end result is the same. You will die along with the girl all the same. Sasuke will be ensnared and his Sharingan will be mine," he laughed sadistically. Orochimaru reached over to pluck the blade from Naruto's hands, but was met by the sword hovering at his throat.

"Leave now, or die!" Naruto growled.

"I don't believe that you're in any position to be making any threats."

Naruto leapt forward, prepared to slice, but he missed, only nicking his arm.

"Kukukuukuku, you can barely stand, and you expect to wield the legendary Kusanagi? Most amusing."

As he fell, SeikaKage's sheath fell to the ground as the sword itself slid out. Almost too quickly, Kusanagi flew to SeikaKage, as the shadow chakra infused itself into Kusanagi, turning its glowing blue blade a dark shade, almost become purple-black.

"IMPOSSILBE!" Orochimaru yelled. "THAT……THAT SWORD! IT CAN'T BE……SEIKAKAGE!"

"That's right. This is SeikaKage, the sword handed down to me by Abrame Sachiki."

"Of course," Orochimaru sneered. "I should've expected nothing less from my old pupil."

* * *

DUN DUN DUN!! Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I really have to sleep xD. I hope you guys like this chapter. And once again, I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY about not updating this whole time. Please read and review if you think I still deserve it!


	12. Encounter

**Path of the Shinobi**

Author's Note: Well, it looks like it's pretty much official. I've lost almost all my original readers, and I'm still trying to think of a good way to continue the story. Most of you probably stopped reading after I took my hiatus. But as for everyone that came back, thank you.

(WHOA! Where'd the disclaimer go?)

* * *

Chapter 12:Encounter

A dark silence fell over the clearing as Naruto's mouth was agape from shock. Sakura was still filled with fear at the sight of Sasuke keeling over in pain, and nobody said a word.

As the shadow chakra infused with Kusanagi, SeikaKage shattered to pieces with a resounding CRACK, breaking the silence. The fragments left of the sword slowly dissolved, each shard turning into purple-black chakra smoke and swirling into the Kusanagi. Its blade glowed a deep purple-black at first, returning to blue. The sword of Kusanagi looked exactly the same as before, except for one small seemingly unimportant detail, the guard had morphed into a four-pointed star with each of the points trailing from the previous one (imagine kakashi's mangekyo with four points instead of three).

"I should've known," Orochimaru muttered. "The second I saw that black chakra, it should have been obvious."

"What the fu-?" Naruto was completely thrown by what he just saw.

Orochimaru shook his head in disgust. "How could Abrame have been so ignorant and devious at the same time? SeikaKage was never a sword; it was always the mere soul of the blade. And once the sword was broken, SeikaKage sought for a host. Apparently, SeikaKage's influence is greater than my own. Unfortunately, you won't live long enough to experience its power!" Orochimaru dashed forward and prepared to slash Naruto's throat 

with a kunai. But he was soon forced to jump back, as the new SeikaKage began to glow and shot forward, slashing the air where Orochimaru had been only moments before.

"Dammit," Orochimaru cursed. "The sword's mind has already been corrupted."

"What the HELL did you mean when you said Abrame was your student?" Naruto demanded suddenly.

"Kukukuku, that is for you to find out if you wish, it is a pity that the old man is already dead though," Orochimaru said maliciously. "However, I will tell you that he made quite a test subject."

Without warning, Orochimaru's neck shot forward as it had before, but this time Naruto was ready. Grabbing his newly gained blade, Naruto sidestepped, swung Kusanagi, and completely missed as Orochimaru's head ducked under the sword and aimed for Naruto's neck. Acting quickly, Naruto stepped back and brought up his right arm.

Naruto screamed in pain as Orochimaru's teeth sunk into his arm, cutting through several muscles all the way and tearing a few tendons as well. Shadow chakra flowed out his arm as Orochimaru withdrew, clinging to his fangs.

"It truly is a pity that you have barely scratched the surface of that sword's potential. I would be thought Abrame would have taught you more of its secrets," Orochimaru smirked as he melted in a tree, vanishing.



Naruto stood by as he slowly saw a black mark seep onto his skin. It resembled a three-tipped shuriken and vaguely remembered Sasuke's before promptly passing out.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes in agony. "Freaking snake," he cursed. "But how the hell was he so strong?" Suddenly, he was shocked to see that he was floating through an endless void.

"How…" Sasuke began.

"What is it you seek…" a whisper echoed across the void.

"Who the hell said that?" Sasuke panicked.

"What is it you seek…" the whisper repeated. "What do you desire…"

"Power!" he shouted back. "I want whatever power I needed to kill my son-of-a-bitch brother!"

"Kukukuku, then let your wish………be granted…" the whisper said darkly.

Sasuke suddenly awoke in a cold sweat, his whole body shaking. He instinctively grabbed his neck as he felt it burn. Once the sensation subsided, he let go. Unknowingly, however, in place of where the mark once was, there was a much larger mark.

Meanwhile, Naruto awoke in a dark and damp sewer. "How the hell did I get down here," he wondered as he got up. But his attention was quickly drawn by the enormous gate in front of him.

"What the fu-," he began.

"**He he he, hello kit," a feral voice growled.**

"Who is it?" Naruto began worriedly.

"**Pathetic, you don't even recognize me? I'm the Kyuubi no Kitsune," he roared. "I'm the one who's been saving your ass with my chakra you ingrate!"**

"So, you're the Kyuubi. And why exactly am I here?"

"**BECAUSE YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF! Have you realized what you've been doing to yourself? You've been using so much of that damn shadow chakra that your chakra coils are getting torn apart! What's more, now you got some fourth type of chakra in here! You had to go and get a freaking curse seal on your arm," Kyuubi snarled.**

"The curse seal! Maybe I could try conquering it with the shadow chakra?" Naruto suggested. "Convert it into some sort of focusing point?"

"**Yeah sure…if you want to blow your arm off. All that focused shadow chakra would just build up and it'd just turn into one bloody mess. That curse seal chakra is dangerous, corruptive even. That thing is like a parasite, leeching on my own chakra even as we speak. You better think of something kit, or we're both screwed…" Kyuubi said as his voice began to fade.**

The cell and the sewer began to fade as Naruto felt his head swirl…

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of boiling water. He rolled to the side and saw Sakura tending to a pot and putting several fish inside. Sasuke was already awake and was in the river catching fish.

"Hn, it's about time you finally woke up dobe" Sasuke said irritably. "You've been shaking all over the place and leaking your chakra everywhere."

Naruto looked down and saw that the ground around him had him carved and burned by his chakra. Strangely enough, his right arm also had several burns on it. "Damn, I better figure this out quick. I wonder…what about Sasuke's…" He pushed the thought from his mind as he turned his thoughts to the food.

The three Genin quickly ate and broke camp. "We still don't have a Heaven scroll," Sakura sighed.

"Plus, now I've got some mark on my neck and Naruto has one on his arm," Sasuke noted bitterly.

"We're going to have to take someone's, but who's?" Naruto wondered.

And as if someone had heard them, three shinobi crashed through the foliage, spraying them with weapons.

Reacting quickly, Sakura activated the traps she had set earlier. Three sandbags placed around their camp quickly exploded, engulfing the six ninja in blinding dust. Sasuke activated his Sharingan while Naruto drew his sword just in time for a barrage of fireballs to come bursting of the smoke. Team 7 was blown off their feet as the smoke cleared to reveal their attackers.

The first thing Sakura noticed was their headbands. "It's the team from Kumogakure," she said instantly.

The boy with the hidden weapon from before suddenly looked a lot more menacing with an enormous double-bladed naginata in his hands (a staff with a blade on both ends). The other boy was busy licking blood off his kunai, clearly from a recent kill. And of course, there was Yugito. She held a kunai in each hand, several fireballs floating around her. "So, I've heard that you guys have an Earth scroll," Yugito smirked. "God damn it Hiko, stop licking that knife for three seconds so we can just kill them already!"

"Well maybe I would've had enough blood already if Soujiro hadn't screwed up and lost the trail on the last team we were tracking!" the knife-licking boy, Hiko shot back.

"Damn right, and I guess if you want our Earth scroll, then that means you have a Heaven scroll," Sasuke deduced.

"Then this should be interesting," Naruto said getting up. The two teams stood still as neither one of them wanted to make the first move. It became a stand-off that could've lasted for hours if Naruto hadn't been so damn trigger happy. Instantly, he created dozens of clones, each one with enough explosive force to blow any one of them to pieces. The twenty Narutos all drew their swords charging straight at the team from Kumogakure.

Soujiro (the boy with the naginata) whipped out his weapon before the other two could react. Spinning it expertly, he effortlessly slashed straight through seven of Naruto's clones. However, none of them exploded whatsoever, which left Team 7 completely shocked.

"What the fu……," Naruto shouted. "Those clones should've blasted you to hell!"

"Take a closer at my naginata," Soujiro chuckled. "It absorbs all chakra on contact. Your clones are nothing but food for my blade."

"This is a serious problem," Sakura realized. "If we can't use ninjutsu to directly attack him without feeding his own chakra, then how can we win?"

"I guess this is up to some old fashioned swordsmanship," Naruto grinned. He dashed forward with SeikaKage drawn straight at Soujiro while Sasuke jumped to take on Yugito. Hiko was slow to react and realized that his prey had to be Sakura. It was a three-way one-on-one fight.

* * *

Meanwhile, the other two teams from the Rookie Nine and Team Gai had already made it to the tower. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji had ambushed a completely oblivious team from the Waterfall village and had easily taken their scroll.

"I still think we caught a totally lucky break with that team," Shikamaru said troubled. "Not just that, but we were totally lucky that they were carrying the scroll we needed too."

"Shut it Shikamaru!" Ino scolded. "It was destiny that such an easy team came to us, and you better appreciate it!"

Chouji just continued to munch on a bag of chips before offering his opinion, "You know, I kind of agree with Shikamaru…".This was a remark to which he earned a sharp blow on the head by Ino.

Neji, Tenten, and Lee probably had the most difficulty reaching the tower. On their way, they had encountered the mysterious team from the Rain. It was there that they had learned the secret to their abilities. The twins were nothing but extensions of the third boy's body. It was sickening, but ingenious at the same time. The third boy had two external "puppets" while he could just sit back and watch the show since the twins had minds of their own. This made them distinctly different from actual puppets, plus, the third boy could act independently if he wished. Essentially, it was nothing but a one man team. It was horribly difficult to defeat him, but through their combined efforts, Team Gai had won.

Lee's speed and taijutsu had kept the twins busy while Tenten's weapons incapacitated them. Neji had then rushed forward to kill the puppets and the boy. But it wasn't' so easy. The twins acted as an extra set of eyes, limbs, and even thinking capacity. The boy easily countered sacrificed the twins for even more power. Using his newly gained chakra, he created dozens of water clones for himself and used them as puppets. Under his unique jutsu, the clones could not be dispelled with a simple strike.

It had taken a combination of Tenten's complete collection of weapons to keep all the clones busy. Neji's Kaiten was his only weapon since his Jukken could only hit so many at once. With all of them distracted, Lee had swooped in, performing his forbidden Lotus technique on the boy, despite Gai-sensei's orders. After that, it was easy mopping up all the clones.

"I'M SO SORRY GAI-SENSEI!!" Lee cried out. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO, BUT WE WERE DESPERATE!"

"It's ok Lee, I understand and I forgive you," Gai said solemnly as he cried as well, hugging his pupil."

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino had a slightly easier journey. After hearing Team Seven's fight with Orochimaru, they engaged a team from the Village Hidden in the Mist. The battle that ensued had taxed them to their limits, but in the end, they emerged victorious. Shino had his bugs encircle all of them while Kiba kept the three enemy ninja busy with Akamaru. Hinata unleashed her new technique, which completely dazzled everyone, and blew away the opposing team. After that it had been a simple matter for Shino to drain all their chakra.

"Damn man, I hope they have a hot tub in this place," Kiba yawned. "I feel like we definitely need it."

Shino shot Kiba a disapproving look; Hinata stood at the doorway, "I hope Naruto-kun will make it. He only has one more day after this," she thought worriedly.

Back in the forest, the heated battle had begun to come to a close. Both sides seemed likely to win, and all six shinobi were dead tired and pissed off.



"Why the hell won't you die?!" Soujiro screamed while spinning his naginata. The dual blades sliced through several trees before they were finally blocked by SeikaKage. It was essentially a stalemate. Naruto's skill obviously surpassed Soujiro's, however, Soujiro had leverage since Naruto had to rely mainly on his sword and the fact that his naginata could cover more ground.

Sasuke was being held up by Yugito pretty badly. She seemed to have fireballs everywhere. Even with his Sharingan, there was no way he could track that many small agile projectiles. The stress was killing him, if only there was a way he could track them all…

Sakura, surprisingly, was doing very well. Her opponent, Hiko, relied much upon brute force. Although Sakura lacked much in this area, she made up for it with her sheer cunning. Hiko was too eager to draw blood, causing him to make several careless mistakes. So Sakura easily forced Hiko into trap after trap, eventually completely draining his chakra and forcing him into submission. In the end, Soujiro walked straight into a clearing full of explosion tags. His body was blown to ribbons after that. Needless to say, Sakura was all smiles after their fight.

On the other hand, the guys on Team 7 weren't doing nearly as well. Naruto's fight with Soujiro was draining on both of them, but Naruto could tell that his constant exposure to Soujiro's naginata was slowly draining his chakra reserves. "Shit, if I don't finish this soon, then that freaking weapon is going to suck me dry!" Naruto cursed.

"This fight has gone on long enough!" Soujiro yelled out suddenly. He brushed his hands across the two blades and they instantly transformed. Each blade was no longer whole, but was instead separated into multiple partitions, each with a small pointed blade its end (think Renji's sword from Bleach). Soujiro spun, swinging his staff as one of his blades extended, shooting out toward Naruto. Naruto quickly lifted SeikaKage blocking one of 

them, but he wasn't as lucky as the second blade slashed across his shoulder.

"Crap! There's no way I can fight against two extendable blades. His attacked are just too damn flexible!" Naruto jumped back just in time to dodge two more attacks and was once again cut several times through his chest and legs. He flipped, landed on his feet, and struck the ground with his sword, sending chakra across the ground. The blast blew Soujiro off his feet, bringing momentary stop to his attacks.

"God damn it," Naruto cursed. "He's too fast! If I attack, I'll leave myself open, but if I don't he's just going to keep cutting me up! I didn't have much chakra to begin with, but he damn nagainata has taken too much of my chakra reserves. How could I be so weak without my chakra?"

Recovering quickly, Soujiro brought forward his naginata in an attempt to sever one of Naruto's limbs. However, Naruto sidestepped the attack, and then easily split the naginata in two as he cut right through the staff.

Soujiro took one look at his bisected weapon and began a deep laugh. "By splitting the staff, you've only made it easier for me to kill you."

"Looks like I'm in some deep shit," Naruto sighed once he realized he had brought about his own doom.

Soujiro lifted both his newly formed swords and shot both directly at Naruto. Pulling up his sword, he blocked a strike from one of the blades just in time for the second one to cut straight through his right shoulder. The second blade then curved around at cruelly stabbed Naruto in the back.



Blooding was almost pouring from Naruto's body as he arose. He knew it was over, but he still made one desperate attempt to win. In a rush, he dashed forward, dodging the jagged edges of the blades as his blood continued to drip into the soil. It began a dance of blades and blood Naruto struggled to avoid Soujiro's strikes, and Soujiro grew ever more bloodthirsty every time his blades found their mark.

Naruto finally fell to his knees from exhaustion and blood loss. He had been running everywhere, trying to attack Soujiro. But it was no use; he had not even come close, while Soujiro was slowly slashing his body to ribbons. The area where they had been fighting was drenched in Naruto's blood.

"It looks like this battle is over," Soujiro smirked. "You can barely stand up, let alone defeat me. I don't have a single major wound on me. You Konoha shinobi are pathetic."

Soujiro was shocked as Naruto suddenly picked up his sword smirking. "Who said I was trying to hit you with my sword?" Soujiro looked around and saw the trap he had been led into. Surrounding him was Naruto's blood, which formed a pentacle around him, and Naruto happened to be kneeling next to one of the corners.

"I'll see you in hell you bastard!" Naruto grunted as he stabbed down SeikaKage into the corner of the pentacle. With every last drop of chakra in SeikaKage, he yelled, "**Kuchiyose: Gate of the Void**!" Black chakra shot up in a vortex inside the pentacle as the ground within gave away, revealing a dark purple-black void.

"AHHHHH!" Soujiro screamed as he was sucked down. His screams split across the clearing as his body was slowly pulled into the void. Once it was gone from sight, the vortex grew thinner, finally vanishing as the ground returned to normal.

"I hate that fucking jutsu," Naruto panted as he supported himself with his sword. "Takes so much damn blood." Then he began to slowly limp towards Sakura with his sword, hoping that she had had the sense to carry some medicine with her.

Sasuke, like Naruto, knew he was freaking screwed. He had no way to avoid every single one of those fireballs and Yugito seemed to never run out of the chakra she needed to produce them. Her aim was pretty damn good too. But the strangest part about her attacks, was the fact that his Sharingan saw no hand signs whatsoever. "My Sharingan might be underdeveloped, but I should be able to see her hand signs, no matter how fast she's making them.

Sasuke turned and saw Sakura helping Naruto limp over to where he was. No doubt the dobe was still going to try and help him he thought. "I don't need him!" Sasuke screamed in his head. "I'm going to kill this flaming bitch on my own, or I'll never be able to reach Itachi!"

Sasuke whipped out three windmill shuriken and threw them straight at Yugito. She lept back and laughed. "Shuriken?! You think you can stop me, the jinchuriki of the Nibi, with shuriken? That's hilarious."

"Jinchuriki?" Sasuke wondered as he dodged another fireball. "Well, you better take another look you arrogant bastard!"

Yugito turned as two things caught her attention. First were the bloody remains of Soujiro and Hiko. Second, were the three shuriken spinning back at her.



* * *

"Shit, what's the point in fighting if they're both dead," Yugito realized. She formed several seals and inhaled a deep breath, "**Katon: Dai Endan! **(Fire Release: Great Fireball!)". The fire blinded Sasuke and probably would've burned his face off if he hadn't anticipated it with his Sharingan. By the time the flames cleared, Yugito was gone.

After the three Genin had regrouped, they decided to hurry on towards the tower. They finally arrived several hours later; and to their shock, they looked to be the only team that arrived bloody and covered in wounds.

"NANI!?" Naruto exclaimed. "There's no way we suck THAT much!"

"Well from the look of it," Kiba smirked, "You guys totally suck ass! It took you guys the whole FIVE DAYS to get her. I mean, even Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji got here by the third day. And they're all lazy-asses!"

This earned him a hard smack by Ino to the face. "HEY! Watch it Ino! Now I gotta go and take at soak at the hot springs to get rid of this lump," Kiba sighed.

"THIS PLACE HAS A HOT SPRING?!" Sakura and Naruto shouted in unison.

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed. "If we'd known that, we would've been here weeks ago!"

Ignoring the dobe; "So what now?" Sasuke asked the other Genin.

"Well, did you open those scrolls yet?" Shino suddenly spoke out.

"No, why? What do they do?" Sakura asked.

"Just…open them…and you'll…find out." Chouji replied between chips.

Naruto brought out both scrolls, opening them simultaneously. There was a huge poof of smoke as both the scrolls exploded. All the smoke cleared to reveal Kakashi reading an Icha Icha novel. Unlike others however, this one had a centerfold which Kakashi was currently getting a huge nosebleed from and giggling like crazy.

"Huh?" Kakashi finally noticed what was going on around him. All 12 shinobi from the Leaf were staring at him like he had some kind of disease.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU PERVERT?!" Naruto shouted while pointing an accusing finger.

"Eh hehe, I didn't expect you guys to finish, especially this late," Kakashi responded while quickly putting away his Icha Icha and wiping his nose. "Anyways, my job is to confirm that you made it to the tower and get a full report of what happened while you were there, and judging from the look of you guys, you got seriously owned. So…what happened?"

A few hours (and one hot spring trip) later, a very disturbed Kakashi rushed over to an office where several jonin and chuunin were quickly recording the outcomes of the second round. He kicked open the door, drawing everyone's attention.

"We have a serious problem! Alert the Hokage and the Anbu!"



* * *

Well, this chapter is definitely long overdue. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I owe you guys an update. Anyway, edits of the first few chapters should be up soon anyways. So please Read and Review!


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